


Crystalline Dark Season One: The Crystal Contractor

by Freelance7



Series: Crystalline Dark [1]
Category: Darker Than Black, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Action, Backgrounds, Contractors, Crystals, Development, F/F, F/M, Like a show, Multi, Section 4, Studio Ereannie, episodic format, season one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-08 14:50:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 40,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4309377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freelance7/pseuds/Freelance7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>BK-104. The Crystal Contractor. In the city of Maria, the hunt for this mysterious person continues after being lost in Sina. And now...they are after something themselves. Will Agent Jaeger of Section 4 be able to capture this contractor? Or will they be lost behind the curtains of the Syndicate once again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Crystals

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Alright, new series, and one I wanted to do for a while. This is a crossover of the anime Darker than Black’s universe with Attack on Titan’s characters.

“Now just take a step to the right with me-no, with _me.”_

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s alright. You will get the hang of it, just trust me and follow my lead.”

The tall tan girl smiled faintly as she stepped to the right with a smaller blonde girl, who was showing no emotion.

“See? You _can_ do it.”

“With your help.”

“Don’t be like that, Historia. You just needed a little push. Dancing is really easy once you get the hang of it.” The tall then stepped with the shorter one to the left, the only light in their dark hotel room being the moonlight shooting through the cracks of the window shutters, the beams shining upon Historia’s beautiful blonde hair, or dancing across her pale skin. Sometimes the light brightened the taller girl’s face, twinkling in her brown eyes.

“Is this all?”

The tall girl pulled a strand of blonde hair out of Historia’s face and stared into her light blue emotionless eyes, staring forward past the tall girl at the wall. “For the most part, but of course there are other kinds of dances.”

As they danced, the room was silent, except for the occasional sound of the taller one’s jeans rustling against the shorter one’s skirt.

“Ymir?”

The tall girl looked down. “Yeah, Historia?”

“Why are you helping me?”

“Why?” Ymir asked, getting down on one knee in front of Historia. She raised a hand up to caress her cheek. “Because I love you.”

Historia’s eyes stared forward blankly, “You do?”

“Yeah...yeah, yeah, I do.”

“I thought contractors didn’t feel emotions. Like us dolls.”

Ymir retracted her hand, “Well...we don’t...we could if we wanted to. But...with you...I feel like I can express any emotion I want.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s good. I never really felt loved in my life. Not even before I became a doll.”

Ymir smiled. “Well, I love you. Do you want to continue?”

“Sure.”

The tan girl nodded and stood up, and was about to take another step to continue their dance, when she stopped and turned her head towards the windows.

“Ymir? Is something wrong?”

She placed a finger against the doll’s smooth pink lips. She whispered, “Quiet, listen.”

Silence returned to the room, allowing her ear to pick up another noise: quick footsteps on the roof.

Ymir’s eyes widened. As if on cue, the footsteps stopped.

“Historia, down!” She pushed her to the ground and covered her body as one of the windows exploded inward, glass pelting the ground, cutting up some of Ymir’s skin, as a cloaked person swung inside feet first. They slid against the floor, using their gloved hands to stop in front of the the tan woman.

Ymir looked up to see the person wearing a silver lion mask with black eyes underneath the cowl. They locked eyes before Ymir pulled Historia to her feet. “Run!” She exclaimed, pushing the smaller girl to the door.

The attacker threw back one side of their cloak to reveal straps running hither and thither across their body underneath. Strapped to them were a variety of knives, a few devices, and some capsules containing different kinds of crystals.

They opened the capsules and threw their arm out, two red dots glowing behind the eyeholes of their mask. The crystals shot out of their containers and toward the tall contractor as they ran out the door. Most of the sharp rocks littered the door, but one of them, a piece of quartz, penetrated Ymir’s denim jacket and lodged itself into her arm, earning a slight yelp of pain from the receiver before she slammed the door shut.

Ymir pushed Historia ahead in the hallway, reaching up to wrap her fingers around the crystal and pull. She gritted her teeth, blood streaming from the wound before she finally wrenched it out in a pained growl and hurling down the hall.

“Are you okay?” Historia asked.

“Yes, I am fi-”

The hotel door was kicked open, the masked person stepping out. The window behind them casting the light of the moon onto their surprisingly small figure. They reached into their cloak and pulled out a tactical knife.

“Go, Historia!” Ymir shouted, pushing Historia to the stairs and running at the cloaked person, fist raised.

The person grabbed her wrist and twisted it with their free hand, causing Ymir to bend over. They raised their hand holding the knife, ready to bring it down onto her back. Ymir shot her head up. “No!”

Ymir jumped up, turning her body sideways so that her feet would hit the wall before she pushed off of it, her head impacting into the chest of the attacker, causing the person to grunt and drop the knife, which dropped to the floor harmlessly with a _clink._

Ymir got up, wrenching her arm free from the grasp of the masked person. Towering over them, she took a step back lifted her leg, and shot it towards their head, when the person’s hands quickly grasped Ymir’s foot and twisted it, causing her to fall.

“Shit!” She cursed, reaching out to try and grab the wooden floor, when one of her hands felt the cold steel of a blade. _The knife!_

With haste, she wrapped her fingers around the knife and turned slightly to slash at the attacker, cut their wrist, which caused them to let go.

The contractor put the handle of the knife in between her teeth before she scrambled to her feet and ran towards Historia, who was waiting at the stairway. She grabbed her hand and led her down the steps, using her free hand to pull the knife from her mouth and ready it, holding it in a reverse knife grip, the edge pointing outward.   
Descending the steps, Ymir could hear their attacker behind them. Once they reached the next floor below, she twisted around and threw the knife underhand. The masked person came into view only for the knife to graze its thigh, and bury itself into the wall. The attacker gave no sign of discomfort as they grabbed the knife and wrenched it free, turning around to see that their targets were already gone, probably two floors below by now.

Undeterred, the  assassin ran down the current hall and leapt through the nearest window, flying out above the moonlit streets and twisting quickly in the air, reaching into their cloak to throw a ball shaped device into the air.

Small hooks shot out from it, embedding themselves in the stone . The cord tightened, stopping the masked person’s descent and instead swinging them into the second floor window.

They burst through, pressing a button on their belt, causing the blades from the hook to be retracted. The cord reeled down two stories and back into the mechanism which it was thrown from. The attacker slid against the floor, looking up to see their targets, in plain sight.

Ymir stopped, staring at the attacker briefly, wondering how they knew what floor she was on, before continuing down to the lobby, where the concierge was standing behind the counter.

He cocked an eyebrow. “Is there something wrong, ladies?”

Ymir ignored him and resumed pulling Historia along.

He found that peculiar, until a cloaked figure sped past him causing him to jump back. He didn’t know what to do, so he picked up the phone and called the authorities.

****  


Ymir ran out into the empty street with Historia in tow, across the cobblestone streets, looking over her shoulder only to see their attacker exiting the hotel and chasing after them. _You’re a persistent little shit, aren’t you?_

The three entered an alleyway in between two buildings of the same gothic architecture provided to almost every building in the Old Town District of the German city of Maria.

Once again, Ymir pushed Historia ahead before turning around to face her masked opponent. Her eyes glowed red as she sliced at the stranger with her hand, an almost invisible blade shooting towards the assailant.

The attacker saw this coming and leapt off the narrow alley wall to fly over the blade and land successfully on the other side. The blade sliced through a few trash cans before it dissipated. Their pursuer looked behind them at the scene before continuing after the two.

Turning a corner, they stopped to find the alleyway empty. They began to slowly walk down it, looking side to side for their targets, hunting.

When they reached the other side, they exited out into the streets, yet found no living soul to greet them. They didn’t have long to consider the fact, either; as the sound of police sirens began to near. Quickly, they climbed up the side of the building, onto the roof, and then they disappeared without a trace into the night.

On the other side of the street, Ymir looked down at Historia, who was clutching her arm and holding tight, no sign of fear in her face.

“We need to get out of Maria,” she said with a grim tone, leading the doll away from the street, and deeper into the protective darkness of the alley.

“But first...how about I teach you the waltz?”

* * *

 

**_“Now I’ve lost it, I know I can kill._ **

**_The truth is just beyond the Gate.”_ **

**Episode One**

_**Crystals** _

* * *

“So they think it was a contractor attack?” The brunet asked, tilting his head to the side as he was laid back in the rolling chair with his feet up on the large table.

“It sounds like one, from what I was told in the report.” The blonde said, placing a file on the table. A black haired girl quickly reached over to pull it in front of her, and began to read it. The blonde slapped the brunet’s feet. “Get these off the table, Eren.”

Eren frowned and did as he was told, swinging his legs off of the wooden surface. He turned to the girl. “Anything Mikasa?”

The girl ignored him, still scouring over the contents of the report. Eren frowned.

“Mikasa!”

Her head snapped up, an almost blank but slightly annoyed look on her face as she spoke, “What?”

“Well?”

She looked at the folder, closing it and sliding it across the table to him. He picked it up and began to read it as she talked, “It sounds very similar to another case that was in Sina,” She said, her voice as blank as her face, “It says they found crystals at the scene. Different kinds. One was bloody. Quartz.”

Eren cocked an eyebrow, setting the folder down. “You aren’t suggesting that it’s-”

“BK-104? Definitely. Who else can injure someone with quartz?”

Eren glanced at the blonde, who shrugged. “I am agreeing with her. The evidence all points to him. The crystals, the mark left from the grappling hook, the concierge's testimony and description. Everything.”

The young man sighed and turned around to face the window, seeing the city of Maria bright in the light of the sun. He spoke, slightly crestfallen, “I just don’t want another loose end, Armin. I don’t want to lose him again.”

Mikasa stared at him. “Eren…”

Eren held a hand up. “I’m...I’m fine, Mikasa. No need to play supportive sister.”

“I am not trying to-”

He sighed. “I know...I am sorry.”

Mikasa stayed silent, not wanting to upset her brother further. The stillness of sound grew, getting louder, until Eren sniffed and got up from his seat, straightening his black tie. “Well...we should probably go take a look at it ourselves. Has Jean returned?”

Armin shook his head. “He hasn’t.”

“Where is he?”

“Who knows? Mikasa?”

The two boys looked at the girl, who looked at them. “What? Why would I know?”

Eren started. “Well…”

Armin continued, “It’s just that he…”

“Kinda…”

“Has a…”

“Huge…”

“Big…”

Eren was about to say another adjective, but shut his mouth, then opened it again, “Large…”

“Gigantic…”

Eren opened his mouth again, then frowned at Armin, “God dammit, Armin. You have to say it sometimes!”

“But not now.”

Eren huffed, before looking at Mikasa, who had an eyebrow cocked, waiting for an answer. “Well?”

“He has like a huge...ass...crush on you.”

Mikasa was up instantly, grabbing her suit jacket and walking to the door. “No he doesn’t.”

“Mikasa!”

She turned around, staring into his soul as she slipped her jacket on. “Eren.”

“You guys have been talking a lot, and I see the way he looks at you, and it looks a lot like-”

“The way you look at the girl at the reception desk?”

Eren frowned. “What? No...I don’t know who you are talking about.”

Armin stepped in. “I think she is talking about Annie Leonhardt.”

Eren turned his head to his friend. “Did I ask for your input?”

“Well it’s not like you _don’t_ make googly eyes at her.”

“I do _not!”_

Just then, the door opened and a tall man with ash brown hair walked in. “Sorry for the delay, I-woah...what’s going on?”

Everyone snapped their head towards the man. Mikasa spoke, “Jean. It’s about time.”

Eren and Armin looked at each other and smiled. Mikasa turned on them. “You two. Don’t say a word.”

Jean cocked an eyebrow, “What is…”

“Nothing,” Mikasa said, looking at Jean, “It’s nothing.”

Jean glanced between everyone. “Alright...well...uh, what’s going on...job wise?”

Mikasa walked back to the table and reached over to grab the folder. She gave it to Jean. “A supposed contractor attack at a hotel in Old Town. We were waiting for you to arrive so that we can go.”

Jean nodded, taking the folder. Staying silent for a moment before speaking, “This sounds a lot like BK-104.” He closed the folder, looking up at them. “Well, I am here. So we should get going.”

Armin nodded. “I will see if there is any more evidence while you guys are away.”

Eren pushed open the door. “Sounds like a plan. Now let’s get going.”

Jean and Mikasa looked at each other before following Eren out the door. As they made their way to the elevator, Eren turned and waved at the reception desk, where a girl with light blonde hair tied up in a messy bun was sitting, her blue eyes searching some papers. He spoke to her, “I am going. See you later Annie!” He smiled.

She looked up and waved back, giving as much emotion as Mikasa would. “Bye.” She dead panned.

And with that, the three investigators entered the elevator, Eren pressing the button to go down, he smiled again at Annie. She stared at the elevator doors as they closed, wondering what that was all about. Then she shook her head and went back to looking at the papers.

 

“Alright. Once we get out, Mikasa I want you to check out the scene, and Jean, you check out the alleyways. I will be talking with the first responders and concierge. Sound good?”

“Yeah.”

“Yup.”

Eren nodded as he parked the car in front of the hotel. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

While Jean got out and went the opposite way, to the alley, the brother and sister went into the hotel. They looked at each other and nodded, Eren stopping in the lobby, where a couple of police officers were talking while the concierge was sitting behind the counter, and Mikasa continuing up the stairs.

Eren reached into his jacket to pull out his badge as he approached the officers. “Agent Eren Jaeger, Section 4. There is a report of a Contractor attack. Were you two the first responders?”

They cocked an eyebrow at his badge, the one on the right speaking, “Agent? They sure are giving the Section 4 people fancy titles.”

Eren rolled his eyes. “It’s just a title, that’s all it is. So, the contractor?”

The other one spoke, “We got here too late to see anything, just that scared man over there,” He pointed at the concierge, “We asked him what the problem was, and he told us that two of the people staying on the top floor ran through this lobby and out the door, with a ‘cloaked figure’ chasing them. We didn’t think much of it, until we saw the alleyway. There were multiple trash cans that were cut clean, like butter. Then we went up to the top floor, and saw the crystals.”

Eren nodded, glancing at the stairs. “Anything else?”

“Well...the room looked like a disaster. Glass was scattered everywhere and the door had holes punched through it. That, and a bloody piece of quartz lying on the ground. As we were going up there, we saw marks and more blood, like they fought on the way down. The second and fourth floor hallway windows are broken, one outward and the other inward.”

Eren turned to look at the concierge. “Thank you for your time gentlemen.” He pulled a card out of his jacket and handed it to them. “Call me if there is anything you remember.”

The concierge looked up as the agent approached him, holding up his badge. “Agent Eren Jaeger, Section 4. Could you tell me what you saw here?”

The man turned his head back down. “I remember that at nine o’clock last night I checked in two young ladies. Those were the same ones that ran out of here an hour or so later, being chased by some...masked guy.”

“What were their names?”

He pursed his lips. “This is one of those hotels that don’t ask. For when teenagers need to get away for a bit. So they paid and I left it at that.”

“How about their appearance?”

“I can tell you that. The first one was a tall woman, maybe a bit taller than me. Uh...she was tan and freckled. Brown hair...brown eyes. She was wearing a denim jacket and jeans with I think converses, didn’t pay attention to the shoes. The other one was small. Pale. Blonde hair and blue eyes. Pretty face. But she seemed kinda...blank, I guess.”

“Did it feel like she was staring right past you?”

“Yeah.”

“Interesting. Continue.”

“She was wearing a dress. White dress. Embroidered. She had flats on. Uh...that’s it.”

Eren nodded. “Could you explain to me what the assailant looked like?”

He shrugged. “Didn’t catch much of him. Black cloak, I am sure. And he had a mask on. It was silver and it looked like...an animal. I can’t explain anymore. The man was a just a blur through my lobby.”

Eren nodded once more, looking out the door at Jean, who was returning from the alley. “Thank you for your time,” He said, pulling out his card and giving it to the man, “Call me if you remember anything else.”

“Alright.”

Eren turned and walked out the door as Jean arrived. “Anything?”

Jean nodded. “Do you think he is good for M.E.?”

“No, he doesn’t know a lot. Not enough anyway. He is fine.”

“I am guessing they told you about the garbage cans?”

“Yeah.”

“They were cut clean, no jagged edges, it couldn’t be crystals. The precision was too great. I am starting to think the assailant was not the only contractor at the scene.”

“Same. I just spoke with the concierge, who said the other girl looked like she was staring past him.”

“A doll?”

“Yup.”

“What are you thinking about this?”

“There has got to be some reason the crystal contractor attacked. I am starting to think it was because of that doll.”

“You think the doll is special?”

“I think BK-104 has some interest in that doll. For what reason, I don’t know. But this other contractor, some tall tan girl, doesn’t want that to happen, obviously.”

“So you think this is BK-104?”

“It sounds like it’s him. Crystals. The cloak. The mask. How can it not be him?”

“What if it isn’t?”

Eren sighed, looking down the street. “Then we lose him once again.”

 

Mikasa stepped up to the top floor, walking down the hall, she spotted the scene. Two police officers were stationed outside, guarding the room. Some blood and a shining bloody rock were left on the floor in front of the room. She pulled out her badge and showed it to them as she walked, speaking with a dead tone, “Agent Mikasa Ackerman, Section 4.”

She crouched down, pulling out blue latex gloves and putting them on. She picked up the rock and held it out in front of her. She was able to see the window at the end of the hall through it, with a slight red tint.

“Quartz. Looks like it penetrated the skin,” She pulled a small plastic bag out of her jacket, opening it up and placing the crystal into it, “Save that for Armin.” She also pulled out a swab and a tube, swiping the blood with the former to place it in the latter. “Also for Armin.”

Once she put that back in her jacket, she stood up and walked past the officers, entering the room, stopping at the door to see small holes punched through it. She ran her finger in a circle around one of them. “Great force. Has to be a contractor, no doubt. And he must’ve taken them back, except for quartz. Strange.”

Mikasa turned her head and saw the broken window, with glass scattered across the floor. “Assailant must’ve dove through into the room.”

She turned around, looking at the room, spotting an area where there was no glass. She saw that glass was lying around the area, but none fell onto it. “This is probably where the ones being chased were. One was covering up the other. Very protective.”

Mikasa couldn’t make note of anything else. She nodded to herself. “Should get back to Eren.”

On her way down, she remembered that dent in the wall. She stopped to check it out. She ran her gloved finger along the side. “Looks like a knife was thrown,” She said, noticing some red marks. She pulled out another swab and tube, and collected another sample.

“Just need to be thorough,” she told herself.

 

“Got everything?” Eren asked as he saw Mikasa walk down the steps to the lobby.

She nodded, her grey eyes glancing at Jean. “I got the quartz and two blood samples. We should get them back to Armin. Unless we have anything else to do?”

Jean shook his head. “No. We got all we can get.”

Mikasa nodded and walked to the car. “Then let’s go.”

 

“Well?” Ymir asked, watching as Historia stared at the wall while holding a lit lightbulb. The tan girl was tightening the bandage around her arm.

“There are two in the lobby. One of them went upstairs, the other is showing his badge to the officers, calling himself Agent Eren Jaeger. Do we know a Jaeger?”

“Not that I can think of. What is he doing now?”

“Talking to the officers. They didn’t see anything except the aftermath. Now he is going to the guy behind the counter.”

“Uh-huh?”

“He is describing us. He called my face pretty.”

“What a charmer. Go check on the other agent.”

Historia nodded and was silent for a minute.

“She is on the top floor. Agent Mikasa Ackerman. She is picking up the stone that you pulled out. She talks to herself. Who is Armin?”

“Hell if I know. Continue.”

“She took a sample of blood. Now she is checking the door. Says it has to be a contractor with the amount of force used.”

“We already knew it was a contractor, so...nothing new there.”

“She sees an area of the floor where you covered me. Called you very protective.”

“Damn straight. That’s how much I care for you.”

Historia simply nodded. “They left. I can’t see outside since there are no lights turned on except for the sun. And I can’t use that.”

“It’s fine. We got a good amount of info. We know their names.”

Historia let go of the light bulb. “Ymir?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know who attacked us?”

“Sadly, I do not. All I know is they want you.”

“Why?”

Ymir glanced at the floor. “I don’t know.”

 

As the elevator doors opened and the three agents exited out onto the Section 4 lobby, Eren glanced at Annie behind the desk. He turned to the others. “You two can go on ahead, I gotta get some...work done, yeah. That.”

Jean cocked an eyebrow and looked at Annie, a smile appearing on his face. “Sure, Eren.”

Mikasa blinked. “What work?”

“You know, just...work.”

“I don’t remember you getting any work.”

“I also need to go to the bathroom, uh...so you guys go on ahead.”

Jean turned to Mikasa. “Come on, let’s just leave him,” he said, pulling her to the labs.

Once the doors shut and Eren was alone with Annie, he took a deep breath and walked up to the reception desk. “Uhm…hi.”

Annie’s blue eyes glanced up at him as she was typing on a keyboard. She stopped and spoke, “Hello, Eren.” Her voice sounded bored. But her eyes held the slightest bit of interest.

“So...what’cha doin’?”

“Organization.”

Eren nodded. “Cool. Cool. That’s cool. So, uh...did you want to go out with me sometime?”

Annie blinked. “Like a date?”

“Uh...sure, if you want to call it that, that’s fine. Uhm, maybe I can take you to dinner? Lunch, maybe?”

“Hmm.” Annie turned to her computer, typing in a few things, before looking at Eren. “I think dinner will work. Where?”

Eren smiled, scratching the back of his neck. “Like...Sasha’s Bistro?”

Annie typed again. She nodded. “Hm. Okay. I get off work at five. I can meet you there at five-thirty.”

Eren nodded. “Yeah, sounds good. So...see you then?”

“Yes. Don’t be late.”

“Same to you,” Eren replied as he walked to the labs.

“I never am,” was the last thing he heard before he left the room.

 

Eren spotted Armin talking to his partners off in the corner of the lab. He smiled, walking to them. “Sorry I am late. What did I miss?”

Mikasa turned to face him. “Nothing. Armin just said he needs a little bit to analyze the blood.”

“How long?”

“A few hours,” Armin said, putting the vials with the swabbed samples away, “Now, I don’t know if I will be able to actually get a match. Contractors aren’t in the system, usually. And this quartz doesn’t look like it’s from any shop. It looks like a ‘Blades of Light’ quartz, looking at it’s almost pyramid shape. These are usually found in Colombia. So either this contractor ordered it or came here from South America.”  

“The latter seems unlikely,” Mikasa said, glancing at Eren, “What do you think?”

Eren looked at the quartz. “I believe the former. This contractor has been sticking around in Germany for a while. There is no way he would leave. Also the moves he has are nothing I have seen from South America.”

Armin nodded. “Well, I need to get to work on the blood. So please leave the lab.”

 

As the three exited the lab and out into the lobby, Jean turned to Eren. “Anything else we can do?”

Eren looked at Mikasa. “Unless you found something that might point us elsewhere, we got nothing else to do but wait.”

Mikasa shook her head. “Just the blood and the crystal. We also got their appearances.”

“True but that isn’t much to go one. How many girls are there in Germany that have blonde hair and blue eyes?”

All three of them looked at the reception desk, where Annie was sitting. She looked up and they quickly looked at each other. “A lot.”

“Exactly. I mean we can try to look for the tall freckled tan girl, but that might just be impossible.”

Mikasa shrugged. “I don’t know. But I am going back to the drawing board to think of more theories. I suggest you go talk to the captain.”

Eren sighed. “Why is it always me?”

“He responds to you well.”

“Yeah, right. I am a punching bag for his words.”

Mikasa gave a faint smirk. “Nice metaphor. Keep it up,” she said before walking to the meeting room.

Eren looked at Jean. “Going to look at Astronomics?”

The agent nodded. “Yeah, gonna see if they will let me camp it out there until BK-104 shows some activity again. I will call if it does.”

“Alright. I have to go have a talk with shorty.”

“Dude. Don’t say that. He could be listening.”

“He is scary, but he isn’t _that_ scary.”

“To the point where he has amazing hearing? Yeah. I think he is.”

Eren laughed before turning around and heading down the opposite hallway, waving to Annie as he approached the captain’s door. He raised his fist to knock, but hesitated, staring at the nameplate on the door: _Captain Levi Ackerman._ He was unsure of whether or not he should-

“Just come in, you shit! I don’t pay you to stand there!”

Eren looked around for any sort of camera. _How the hell did he-_

“For christ’s sake, Jaeger! Just come in!”

Eren quickly opened the door and closed it behind him, seeing the captain, with his short black hair and grey eyes that stared into his soul. He was sitting behind his desk, gesturing to the chair. “Sit.”

Eren always had a little game whenever he came into the captain’s office. _Find the dirty spot._ It was impossible since the captain is such a clean freak, but he does miss a spot once every blue moon.

“Sit.” He repeated. Eren nodded and sat down, placing his hands on his knees and sitting up straight.

Levi stared at Eren for a little longer before sighing and writing on some papers. “So, there was a contractor attack today. You checked it out, right?”

Eren nodded.

“And?”

He looked at the papers. “Well uh, we are led to believe that there were two different contractors, one was running with a doll, and the other chasing. We know this because there is evidence pointing to two different powers. One seemed to be some kind of, uh...blade. The other...the other was crystals.”

Levi shot up head up, his eyes slightly widened but the rest of his face calm. “BK-104?”

Eren nodded.

“You got any leads?”

“No, just some blood and a piece of quartz.”

“If that is all you have to go on, then I say take it as far as you can. If you can’t get him, we are pretty screwed, especially since we lost him once already.”

Eren exhaled, “Of course, sir, of course.”

“Don’t disappoint me Eren. I am counting on you, Mikasa, and Jean to get this guy in. You got me?”

“Yes sir.”

“Alright. I will read the file. You go ahead and leave. Go on your little date.”

“How did you-”

He twisted his chair around to face the window. “Goodbye Eren. Good luck.”

Eren stared at the back of the chair, an incredulous look on his face, before getting up. “Uhm...thank you...sir.”

He stood up and quickly left the room. _I have to pay more attention to my surroundings,_ he thought to himself, glancing around for any cameras.

_Nope, still nothing._

 

Eren parked in the lot next to the restaurant, reaching up to straighten his tie. He didn’t change because he already looked like he was wearing date-wear. He pulled out his phone and checked the time.

“Five-fifteen. Alright. I can wait until five-thirty.” He got out of the car and locked it before he walked the sidewalk.

“Just get a table for two and wait for her. That’s all you got to do, Jaeger. Why am I talking to myself?”

He got to the door and pushed it open. He looked ahead to see Annie already at a table.

_What the-_

Her eyes were already on him and his surprised face. She raised a hand and waved nonchalantly. Eren waved back and walked over, taking his seat across from her. “You are here early.”

Annie blinked at him, she reached down to pull at the skirt of her dark blue dress. “I told you. I am never late.”

“How long were you-”

“Three minutes, twenty-one seconds.” She glanced down at the menu, scanning the items.

Eren cocked an eyebrow. “Sorry to make you wait.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. I wait behind a desk every day.” She said, giving a small exhale of amusement.

He laughed, picking up his menu and reading it. “I guess that is true, huh?”

“Yeah.”

There was a small moment of silence before Eren put down the menu. “Oh, uh, your dress looks lovely. It fits you very well.”

Annie looked down at her dress. “I just picked it out. I think my mother gave it to me.”

“Oh really? Did you like your mother?”

“Yeah. She did what mothers do, so it’d be unfair to complain. She’s dead now.”

“Oh...I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? Did you kill her?” She asked, her hand hovering over the fork.

“No.” Eren hoped this was a joke.  
“Okay.” She put her hand back under the table.

Eren didn’t notice as a small man walked up. “Looks like your date showed up. So wh-Eren?”

The agent looked up from the menu, seeing a familiar face. “Connie?”

“Sup man. It’s been a while, hasn’t it.”

“Uh yeah.”

“Oh right, sorry. Professional,” he cleared his throat, “So what would you two like to order?”

“I will take the salad. Extra tomatoes.”

Eren glanced at her. “I will just take the chicken.”

“Alright. I will be back with your orders.”

After Connie walked away, Eren looked at Annie. “So...you like tomatoes?”

“They’re my favorite fruit,” She said simply, reaching her right hand up to pull back the fringe of her hair. Eren noticed something.

“Hey, what happened to your hand?”

Annie stared at him with slightly widened eyes before bringing her hand into view. A bandage was wrapped around her hand, a bloody stain in the area between her forefinger and thumb.

“It’s nothing. Just an accident. Cut myself.”

“What were you cutting?”

“Not my hand.”

“Obviously.”

“It was tomatoes.”

“Oh. It looks pretty bloody. You okay?”

“It stings a little. Nothing I can’t handle. But thank you for your concern.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“Do you have hobbies?”

“What?”

“Hobbies. Activities done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure. Do you have any?”

“Well...I like to read. Watch TV. Video games take up some of my time. But work is usually my main focus.”

“Obviously.”

“What about you? Any hobbies you like?”

“I collect rocks.”

“What?”

“I collect one of every different kind of rock. Have been doing so since I was five. This includes gems.”

“Oh. Interesting. Anything else?”

“I guess I like to read as well. I have tried art before. I found it entertaining, even to this day, but I am not at a sufficient enough level to call myself ‘talented’.”

“I am sure if you put enough effort into it, you can get to that level.”

She looked up, her eyes looking slightly hopeful. “Do you really think so? No one ever really likes to talk about it. They just look at it and continue with what they were saying.”

“Well it’s their loss. I would love to see it.”

“Really?” She gave the slightest of smiles. “Maybe I can show you sometime?”

“That sounds good to me.”

She nodded before the food arrived. They didn’t talk much as they ate.

 

Eren opened the door for Annie, who gave a slight nod in acknowledgement before walking outside.

Eren followed her, noticing she was shaking slightly. With a smile, he took his jacket off and placed it on her shoulders.

She looked up at him. “Why did you give me your jacket?”

“Because you looked cold.”

“But you will be cold.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to be.”

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, looking down at the ground, she pulled on the jacket. “Walk me home.”

Eren smiled. “I can drive you home. My car is in the parking lot.”

“Oh. You don’t have to do that.”

“No, it’s seriously not a problem.”

“Fine. Drive me home.”

“Of course, Miss Leonhardt. Right this way,” he said jokingly, grinning to her as he led the way.

Annie found small amusement in his actions, but not enough for her to justify a chuckle. She smirked for a second before following him.

 

Eren put the car into park outside of a tall apartment building. His eyes glanced at the girl in his passenger seat. We are here.”

Annie look up at the building. “Okay,” she pulled the jacket off of her shoulders and held it out to him.

He held a hand up. “Keep it.”

“No. I shouldn’t.”

“Go ahead, it’s no problem.”

“Alright. I will give it back tomorrow.”

“Anytime is fine.”

Her eyes searched his body language, thinking she could find an answer in that. Eventually she nodded. “Okay,” she stepped out of the car and walked towards the building.

Eren watched her until she made it inside. He then leaned back in the chair and sighed. “Ugh...shit, that was bad. I was horrible. She will never date me again.”

He glanced back at the building, pondering whether or not he should run in and apologize for the atrocity of a date.

When he decided not to, he put the car into drive and drove back home.

 

_**An hour later, on the outskirts of the city** _

“Did you find them yet?”

“No.”

A muscular blonde man stomped on the dirt next to a girl sitting in it, holding a clump in her hand as she stared at the moon lit city in front of them. “Damn it! How hard is it to find a contractor and a god damn doll?”

“Very.”

He twisted around, pointing at the girl. “I didn’t ask for your input, doll!”

A taller lankier man stepped in front of the blonde one, holding a hand out. “Hey, let’s calm down, okay? She is trying her best.”

“Where did the Syndicate hire this doll, anyway?”

“Okay, first, Reiner, her name is Mina. And second, she was trained by the Syndicate. As a doll, she has a medium. Her medium is dirt. So we only have eyes where there is dirt.”

“You are telling me there is no dirt where these two dykes are hiding?”

“None,” the doll muttered.

The taller man held a finger up. “Reiner, you need to watch it with your words, okay?”

“Why!? What the hell does that matter? Have you forgotten, Bertholdt? We're contractors! Why do you still hold a conscience, when we have none?”

Bertholdt sighed. “Because they still have beating hearts. They are still technically human. Another thing, Reiss said that he wanted the doll back in safe condition. Intact. This girl is important to him, Reiner!”

“How? I want to know why this girl means so much to him! Is he a creep? Is she valuable? Does she know something?”

“I don’t know Reiner! We are here for one reason! Money! That’s what makes us contractors!”

“Can you blame a man for being a little curious?”

“No, but you aren’t _just_ a little curious.”

“Well, I-”

“Found her,” the doll said, head turning up, “corner of Twenty-First Street and Rogue Street. Shiganshina District. She is moving down Rogue Street. She is carrying groceries.”

Reiner nodded, and turned his head to a cloaked figure standing on the edge of a cliff, looking over the city. “Did you hear that, Leonhardt?”

The figure looked over their shoulder, revealing the face of a young woman, with blue eyes, blonde hair, and a pronounced nose. She reached into her cloak and pulled out a lion mask, putting it on.

“Affirmative.”

* * *

**_“In the blue, blue sky, I turn on the moon’s light_ **

**_Sweetly, faintly heavy--captured by things like that”_ **

****

_**Studio Ereannie** _

**_ Writer: _ **

**Freelance7**

** _Supervising Producers:_ **

**Nakamatoo**

**Insomniatic Titan**

**Dorminchu**

**Ghastmine**

**Euregatto**


	2. The Story Of Wind

**_Twelve Years Ago, One Month Before the Appearance of the Gates_ **

Nothing could compare to the stare of disappointment a mother would give. And Ymir was being given that exact look right now by her own mother sitting across the table. She was remembered how much she was identical to her mother. Except her mother was not tan. She had lighter skin that shined in the light.

The whirling of the overhead fan was the only noise keeping the room from falling into silence as Ymir waited for her mother to say something. Anything. _I just want to leave and go out with my friends._

Her mother then took on a more sympathetic look. That’s when she spoke.

“What happened to you, sweetie?”

Ymir glanced side to side, as if her mother was talking to someone else. She directed her eyes back to her parent. “What do you mean?”

“When you were younger, you were so kind and…”

“What? Feminine? Girly? Mom, I am fifteen. I have changed. I am deciding who I am.”

“A troublemaking punk rock girl?”

Ymir groaned and leaned back, placing her feet onto the table, showing her black combat boots to her mother. “If that’s what I want to be.”

“Ymir!” Her mother frowned at the young lady’s behavior.

The teenager rested the back of her head in her hands. “What? Oh. I am sorry. Do you want me to become like you and dad? Boring jobs and a boring sex life?”

“Ymir!”

The teen threw her legs off the table and stood up. “What? It’s true! You wanted an ‘honest little girl’ right? Well here I am! Being honest!”

Her mother stood up and pointed at the stairs. “Go to your room now, young lady!”

Ymir smirked. “No.”

_“Excuse me?”_

“Oh, sorry...let me put it in simpler terms: No.”

“I swear, Ymir, I am going to-”

“Spank me? Oh god, not that! Please! I would probably get more pleasure out of it than when I was five!”

“What is your father going to think when he hears you say that?”

Ymir was already going towards the door. “He will probably give me a big hug and tell me ‘Ymir, do whatever you want, you are a free girl’. Oh wait. He isn’t going to say that, because he is boring and shitty like you!”

“Where are you going?”

“Out. With my friends. I have had enough of this bullshit!”

“No you are staying here until-”

“Oh yeah, one more thing mother. That boyfriend I told you about? It’s a girl.”

Seeing the shocked look on her mother’s face gave her glee as she exited the house, walking out onto the sidewalk, she smiled at the suburban neighborhood around her. _Goodbye, shitty world, once again,_ she thought to herself as she began sprinting down the street.

****  
  
  


“Why do you still even live with them, Eemee?”

“They are my parents, Alfons. I mean, they gave birth to me. I gotta give them some level of respect.”

The young lady looked at her friend dead in the eyes, trying to keep her face serious, before bursting out laughing. “Nah I am just shitting with you!” She took a sip of the beer in her hand. “I am actually setting up with my girlfriend so that we can live together on our own. We already found a shitty apartment.”

“When is your girlfriend coming anyway?” Alfons looked down the street from the bar they were hanging around.

“She should be here soon.”

“Well anyway, congrats, Eemee! When are you moving in?”

“I was hoping in a month. Maybe less, if I am lucky. I just want to get away from my parents as quickly as possible.”

“Well if you need a place to crash, I can see what my parents will do.”

“Really? You can do that? Your parents are fucking awesome.”

“I know, right? Ahh...I love ‘em.”

They sipped their beers in silence, occasionally looking up and down the street. After several times doing that, it wasn’t until Ymir went to sip her beer and find out it was empty that she got suspicious.

“Okay, seriously, where the fuck is Helena? She never skips out on me.”

“Maybe she is having problems? With family or something?”

“Maybe,” Ymir muttered, looking down at the bottle in her hands. She sighed and threw it to the ground, the glass shattering into pieces.

“I should get to bed. I will go see how Helena is doing tomorrow.”

“Alright, Eemee. Goodnight.”

Ymir nodded to Alfons as she walked past him. “G’night.”

****  
  


 

Ymir stopped outside of her house, seeing her father’s car in the driveway. “Shit,” she whispered to herself. He was probably waiting for her in the dining room. She didn’t want to deal with his crap right now.

“Looks like I am climbing.”

She looked up at her opened bedroom window on the second floor. Stepping up to the wall, she spat on her palms, rubbed them together and began to climb. She put her left foot up onto window frame, then grabbed the roof of the porch with her right hand and pushed herself up to use her right foot to boost her up to the window. She caught a hold of the sill and slowly pulled herself through.

Quickly she walked to the door and locked it. Then she grabbed a chair to jam it between the doorknob and the floor.

She took a step back, marvelling in her handiwork. “That should keep them away.”

Ymir turned to her bed and flopped down onto it, not even taking her boots off as she instantly fell asleep.

****  
  
  


“Honey, open the door,” she heard as she woke up, her mother knocking. She raised her head, blinking the sleep out.

“Honey...I am not angry. Please open the door.”

Ymir yawned as she swung her feet off the side of the bed and approached her blocked door.

“Hun?”

Ymir hesitated, looking at the door knob. She reached out to grab the chair, but stopped, her eyes glanced up, unsure over whether or not she should let her mother in.

“Is everything okay?”

Ymir reeled back instantly, twisted around and jumped out the window, not in the mood to see her mother. Not in the mood for another lecture. Definitely not in the mood to face someone who looks almost exactly like her who would think of her as a brat.

When she landed, she quickly went into a sprint, exiting the neighborhood as fast as possible.

She stopped just where she wanted to be. _Helena’s house. Time to see what is wrong._ She thought to herself as she walked up to the door. She raised her fist and rapped her knuckles against the wooden surface.

A moment later, it opened and a man stood in front of her, a very sad look on his face.

“Oh, Ymir. It’s you.”

“Oh, hey Mr. Peterson. I was wondering if Helena was home?”

He froze at the mention of his daughter. “Oh. Helena?” Ymir noticed that he wouldn’t meet her eyes, they were looking everywhere but at her. “Yes, Helena is-was out, with-with her friends. She-” he stopped.

“She was supposed to go out with us last night,” said Ymir.

“Oh, was she? That’s right. Yeah. She is just-just out with her mother. She will be back here soon. Would you like to-to come in?”

Ymir cocked an eyebrow. _Something is wrong._ “Sure.”

****  
  
  


“Do you want some coffee?”

“No thanks. I am more into beer.”

The father didn’t laugh, instead he pulled a chair out for her. “Please, sit.”

“Okay,” Ymir sat down and stared at the father as he walked to one of the cupboards in the kitchen and opened it.

“Do you want anything to eat?”

“No. Will Helena be quick? I really want to see her?”

He inhaled, sitting down. “Uh, yeah, she will be...be here soon.”

“Okay.”

They sat there in silence. Not saying a word. The curiosity grew in the teenager as the seconds grew into minutes.

****  
  


 

Fifteen minutes later, Ymir was ready to explode. But she wasn’t the only one.

Mr. Peterson suddenly bursted into tears. Ymir jumped back a bit. “Mr...Mr Peterson?”

He didn’t calm down until a few minutes after. “It’s...it’s Helena. She...she…”

She stood up, eyes wide. “Where is Helena?”

****  
  


 

She didn’t know she could run for so long. She hated running in P.E.. Helena knew that.

_Helena._

She looked up at the building she was running to. _Karanese Hospital_.

Ymir skidded in front of the automatic doors and dashed through the crevice it created, not waiting for it to open fully. The people waiting in the lobby jumped at her sudden appearance, and the nurse at the front stared at her like she was mad.

Ymir leaned over the counter. “Helena Peterson! Where is she?”

****  
  
  


_301, 302, 303,_ Ymir counted the numbers she ran past, knowing she was close to Helena’s room. _304, 305, 306, 307!_ She skidded to a halt in front of the door, grabbing the knob and turning it before bursting in.

There she was, her head lying back on the bed. Her eyes closed, one of them were slightly swollen, her light blonde hair clean. Her mouth was slightly opened, but it was split, showing her white teeth to the world. She didn’t have those injuries before.  

Sitting next to her was an older woman, one that had some resemblance to the girl. Her head snapped up, red and puffy eyes wide in surprise, but then calmed as she saw who it was. “Oh, Ymir. It’s you...I am guessing my husband told you?”

Ymir walked further into the room, stepping up to Helena’s side, shaking her head. “No...uh, not really. He just told me she was here. What happened?”

She was about to answer Ymir when the door opened once again, a nurse coming in. “Mrs. Peterson, I got the results for the rape kit and fortunately your daughter tested negative for all STIs.”

Ymir’s light brown eyes widened, her head turning slowly from the mother to the nurse. She opened her mouth but no words came out. She didn’t know what to say. Her mouth closed and she covered her mouth and nose with her hands, resting her elbows on the bed.

She shut her eyes, hearing the two talk.

“Is she going to be alright?”

“Yeah, she is just...friends with my daughter. Very close.”

“Oh.”

Ymir ignored the rest of the conversation, opening her eyes to look at the girl in front of her. Memories ran through her mind, remembering the small, platinum blonde haired girl whose blue eyes shined so bright. She remembered how happy she always was about everything. A complete opposite to Ymir. But she loved her so much. She brought out her lighter side.

_And now,_ Ymir thought, _she is going to be changed in so many ways._

Ymir suddenly felt walls encroaching upon her. She jumped up, _I gotta get outta here._ The nurse and the mother stared at her as she bolted out of the room, needing to escape somewhere peaceful. Somewhere safe…

* * *

_**“Tears streamed from my squeezed-shut eyelids** _

_**My reason and the fragments of my blood** _

_**are repeatedly undermined”** _

**Episode Two**

_**The Story of Wind** _

* * *

“Just these, thank you,” the tan woman said, giving a brief smile and a nod to the bag boy before grabbing her groceries to leave the small store. As soon as she got outside, her walking speed increased, wanting to get back “home” quickly before she gets found. The streets were quite empty, only a few people walking here and there.

Ymir looked around every few seconds, keeping an eye out. _They have dolls, they probably know where I am._ She walked past some construction site.

That’s when she saw it.

_A specter. Appearing from out of the dirt piles._

She set off in a sprint, bag clutched close to her chest. _Have to make it home,_ she repeated in her head, _gotta make it home._

Home wasn’t far. She was running down the street to the abandoned building that housed her and her friend.

But then the specter was there, peeking out from the dirt of what was where small trees went on the sidewalk.

_I can’t go home with it watching me. They will find us._

She twisted left into an alleyway opposite of the building, trying to get them off of her back. Down the alley she went, quickly turning right into another alley, stopping to drop the grocery bag and push her back against the corner. She waited, breathing calmly.

Ymir turned her head to look down the alley she just turned into. _No dirt, no specter,_ she thought to herself.

The light that illuminated the first alley she entered was suddenly obscured as a figure stepped into it, casting a shadow. Ymir held her breath, waiting as the sound of boots echoed down the alley, coming closer.

Then they stopped, just before coming to the corner.

Ymir’s eyes glowed red, her body emanating blue, as she twisted around the corner and began to swipe at her opponent.

Before she could even swing her arm, it was caught by a gloved hand. Ymir looked up from her hand to see she was face-to-face with the masked assailant from the other night.  

It squeezed Ymir’s hand, their grip like a vice, reaching up with their free hand to press and hold a button on their mask. It spoke, their voice deep and modulated, “The doll, where is she?”

Ymir frowned. “Nowhere you will fucking find her!” She raised her left fist and brought it under, towards their throat.

It leaned their head to the side, her fist missing by a centimeter, and brought her knee up into Ymir’s stomach, causing the girl to double over. The attacker brought their knee up into her face, causing her to shoot up, before being grabbed by the throat and pushed into a wall, which was strange for Ymir considering the attacker’s small size.

It reached up and held the button, “I’ll ask again. Where is the doll?”

“Why? Why do you want her so bad? What does the Syndicate want?”

“None of your business. Now where is she?”

Ymir smirked. “None of your business.”

Her eyes glowed red as she flicked her left hand. The attacker was thrown to the side by some unseen force.

Ymir dashed up to them, giving the attacker a right hook to the ribs before stepping back and giving them a snap kick to their jaw, which sent them onto their back.

Ymir got down on one knee and grabbed the mask, about to pull it off when the person’s hand grabbed her wrist. It pulled her to the ground before it jumped back to their feet. Ymir quickly got up to face her opponent.

The attacker pulled their leg back to shoot their foot out at Ymir, hitting her in the chest and knocking the wind out of her. This made her stagger back a few steps before recovering and dashing in, her eyes glowing red as she pushed out both hands towards the cloaked person’s chest, who flew backwards into a bunch of trash cans. It picked one of the lids up and got up to throw it at Ymir.

She stepped back and caught it, looking up and holding it as a shield as the attacker shot some crystals into the aluminum metal. _Dum, dum dum!_ The noise echoed throughout the alleyway in rapid succession.

Ymir ran in with the lid, swinging it at the assailant. It ducked under, allowing Ymir to raise the lid up and slam down it down on their back using the crystal end. Some of the crystals stabbed into their back.

The cloaked person shouted in pain and stepped back several paces. They reached over their shoulders and grabbed the lid, beginning to push it off before grunting, stopping and looking at the woman in front of it, their breathing irregular.

It reached up to hold the button, “This isn’t over. We’ll be back.”

Ymir smirked, crossing her arms. “I bet, Arnold. I bet.”

The attacker reached into their cloak and threw out a spherical device. It shot out hooks, which buried themselves into a lamp post nearby. Pressing a button on their belt, the assailant was pulled up, grabbing onto the lamp with one foot on the post, it pushed itself to a nearby roof.

Ymir waited a minute, making sure no one else was coming, before picking up her grocery bag and exiting the alley to walk across the street. She reached the door to the abandoned building, looking around for any specters. Satisfied, she opened the door and entered, closing it behind her. She was in what looked to be an old bar. Dust was everywhere, as if the place wasn’t cleaned in years. She looked at the counter, dirty and unscrubbed.

She walked past that, holding the bag close to her chest. Ymir opened a door in the back, looking over her shoulder at the entrance door, just to be sure, before closing the door. She walked down some steps in front of her to get down to the basement.

“Ymir?” A light voice was heard.

“Yes. Don’t worry, Historia. It’s me.”

“I am hungry.”

“I know. Me too.” Ymir reached the last step and looked out to the whole room, seeing a single girl in the center of the room underneath a single light, sitting with her legs crossed. Her eyes were set on the taller woman walking into the light. Ymir smiled at her as she set the bag down and sat in front of the doll. “How you doing, Historia?”

“Hungry. But fine.”

“Alright. Well I will see what I can do. We can’t really cook so I can make a lame sandwich.”

“If it’s being made by you, then I am happy.”

Ymir’s head lifted up from the bag, staring at the girl. _I never thought I would hear a doll say that,_ she thought to herself before giving a big smile. “Thank you.”

Suddenly, Historia’s hand shot out and grabbed Ymir’s. “I mean it.”

Ymir blinked. _This is getting weird. She never did this before._

“Historia...I love the affection but...I should get to making us dinner.”

She felt Historia’s grasp weaken before she let go.

Ymir nodded to her. “So...mustard or mayo?”

_**Meanwhile...** _

 

“God, Leonhardt, how’d you manage to let them hit you with your own crystals?” Reiner said as he grabbed the lid. “Ready?”

Annie was on her elbows and knees, gritting her teeth. “I wasn’t fast enough.” She looked up at him. “Do it.”

Reiner nodded and wrenched it out, blood flying through the air as Annie balled her fists tighter, hissing in pain.

Bertholdt walked over and took her cloak off. Then he pulled off her straps and sweatshirt, leaving her bra on as he grabbed the bandages. “How are you going to work at Section 3 if you have these injuries?”

Annie shook her head. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“It looks pretty bad,” he said, beginning to wrap the bandages around her torso.

“So what? Now we are back to square one?” Reiner asked, crossing his arms and glancing at the doll in the corner of the room.

“We know she is still in Maria,” Bertholdt said, finishing wrapping Annie’s wounds.

Annie stood up, straightening out her back and wincing. She then walked over to one of her straps and reached down to pull a knife out of a sheath.

The contractor looked at her hand, which was bandaged. She unwrapped it to reveal that the skin between her forefinger and thumb was covered in scars.

Bertholdt glanced over at her and puckered his lips. “That’s a pretty bad payment you have there.”

“I don’t feel the pain here anymore,” Annie said, laying the blade against her skin. She pushed deep and pulled it toward her, cutting into it. She showed no emotion as the blood ran down her palm. She re-wrapped it.

* * *

**_Twelve Years Ago, One Month Before the Appearance of the Gates_ **

Ymir glanced up at the stall door, remembering that this wasn’t the school’s bathroom, so she didn’t see the “Adolf was here” or the “Genevieve is a bitch” written on there. It was clean. And that made it worse.

It meant she can’t focus on something other than the current situation.

She was sitting on the toilet, head hung low, trying to keep away from the others. She didn’t want to talk, she didn’t want to see anyone. She just wanted to be left alone for a bit.

_Why her?_ She thought to herself, _Why sweet little Helena? She didn’t deserve it._

She heard the door to the bathroom creak open, and steps lead their way in. “Ymir?”

She glanced up at the stall door. “What do you want, Mrs. Peterson? Shouldn’t you be with your daughter?”

“Yes, but she is asleep and I am worried about you. Are you going to be okay?”

Silence followed the minutes that came.

“I could’ve escorted her. She would’ve been protected.”

“You can’t beat yourself up over tha-”

“And why the hell not!?”

More silence.

“Because you didn’t know.”

“Why are you like this? You should be blaming me! Blaming everyone! Blaming the whole fucking world!”

“I did, for the first hour of knowing. Then I realized it wouldn’t get me anywhere.”

Ymir’s eyes widened. She was quiet, not knowing what to say.

“Why don’t you go back home? I know you want to be by Helena’s side, but you can see her later. I will tell you when she wakes up, okay?”

“No I have to-”

“Ymir...your parents are probably wondering where you are.”

“My parents don’t give a shit about me. I told them...I told my mother yesterday about me and Helena.”

A sigh of relief emitted from the other side of the door. “I was hoping you would let it out someday. How did she react?”

“She looked kinda shocked...but I ran out before she I could really hear her response.”

“I bet she will get around to the idea. She still loves you, no matter how different you are from her.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Ymir, just...go home. Helena will be fine.”

“She will not be fine. She is gonna have to live the rest of her days with the memory of being attacked.”

“And for the rest of those days, you will be there for her. But for today, Ymir, let me do your job.”

The teen turned her head up at the door. She lifted her hand up, reaching out to the lock. She stopped just before her finger touched the metal, hesitating.

She sighed and twisted the lock, pushing the door outwards.

**_Three Weeks Later_ **

“Ymir...Ymiiiiiiiiiiiiir…”

The first thing she spotted once she opened her eyes were two beautiful blue orbs, staring into hers. A smile graced her face as she knew who the speaker was.

“Helena...why do you always get up so early?”

A giggle. “You know me, Ymir. I am just a little bundle of energy.”

“Yeah,” the tan girl supported herself on her elbow, leaning in to kiss the smaller girl on the lips, “ _my_ little bundle of energy.”

Helena smirked and cupped Ymir’s cheeks to pull her into the kiss again, relishing in the taste of her lover.

Ymir pushed away gently. “Helena...get ready. I gotta walk you to school before I go to work.”

Helena pouted. “Awww, fine…”

The blonde rolled out of bed and walked to the closet to change into her uniform. Meanwhile, Ymir got out of bed and picked up random articles of clothing scattered across the ground.

Helena’s eyes searched their low class apartment, something they could actually afford to keep. The walls are torn in places, the windows didn’t shut properly, and the floor creaked like crazy. _But it’s ours,_ she thought, spotting some papers on the dining table.

The short girl straightened her skirt out before walking to the table and grabbing the paper, bringing them up into view. She frowned.

“Ymir...what’s this?”

The taller girl turned around, getting her leather jacket on, seeing the papers. Her eyes widened as she walked over, extending a hand. “Oh, uh, those are-”

Helena turned her back to Ymir so that she couldn’t take the papers, scanning the words before her. “Private investigator…”

“Helena…”

“No, Ymir! No! I told you to forget this whole thing! And here you are going behind my back? What’s wrong with you?”

“Helena...those bastards need to get what they deserve. I mean…”

The girl sighed and looked down, tears stinging her eyes. “And you don’t think I know this? Ymir...all I want is to forget this happened. That’s what I want. Can’t you see? We have a chance. We _finally_ have a chance to live a normal life. Just you and me. And this...this stupid revenge that you so desperately want...will just ruin it all. I am alive...isn’t that all that matters?”

“Helena they hurt you! In more ways than one! I can’t just let them get away with that! They will do it to some poor other girl!”

Helena slammed the papers onto the table, then supported herself on it with her hands, her body shaking. “Please, Ymir...just forget it...please…”

Ymir looked at her lover worriedly, not sure what to do. She glanced at the papers before stepping in and wrapping her arms around Helena, pulling her close.

“Alright, Helena...alright, I’ll...I’ll stop. I promise.”

Ymir looked down at the papers on the table as she held her lover in her arms. _Should I stop?_

She then began to think of Helena, or someone like her, alone in the dark streets. Scared. Afraid someone will…

She closed her eyes. _No,_ she thought to herself, _I can’t just stop. I can’t._

* * *

****  
  


Ymir bit into her sandwich, watching Historia as she did the same, without emotion. _Something is different about her. She’s changing...slowly, but she is changing,_ she thought to herself, _I know dolls can earn some emotions back...but this is quick. First a compliment, then she grabs my hand. All in a matter of thirty seconds._

Historia stared at her. “What is it, Ymir?”

She was jolted out of her trance. “Hm? What?”

“You’re staring. You don’t stare. Usually.”

“Oh. Right. Well, I am just thinking of...people.”

“Who?”

“An old friend.”

“Tell me.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“It’s...I don’t like to talk about it.”

“Why?”

“It’s back when I...was human. And then the gates…”

She trailed off, glancing around before her eyes finally set on Historia’s. She could see something in them.

_Curiosity._

“Why do you want to know so badly?”

“Because it upsets you. Your voice is upset.”

“Yeah. It upsets me. So please don’t ask anymore about it.”

“Maybe it can help?”

“Keyword: Maybe.”

“Is there any bad it can do?”

Ymir glanced down at the floor. “It can make you judge me has a horrible person.”

“You care about what I think?”

“Yes. I do.”

“I don’t judge a person’s past.”

She turned her head up. “Huh?”

“I would rather judge a person’s present. How they act now.”

Historia stared at her, still with curiosity in her eyes. Ymir sighed as she thought about it.

Quickly she put her half-eaten sandwich down and stood up, holding her hands out to the doll. “Come on. Let’s dance. I’ll tell you about her.”

Historia stared blankly at Ymir’s hands, her blue eyes looking so innocent in the light. She reached up and took them, being pulled to her feet.

Ymir smiled. “Alright, let’s try this again. Just simple steps.”

Historia nodded. Ymir stepped to her left, while Historia stepped to her right, perfectly starting a slow dance.

At first, there was silence between them. They wanted to get into the rhythm before they went into a conversation.

Ymir sighed, glancing to the side in thought. “She looked a lot like you…”

* * *

 

**_Twelve Years Ago, One Week After The Appearance of the Gates_ **

The neighborhood was like any other in downtown. Dirty, desolate and dangerous. There is a risk just walking down the street, much less walking across it. It is a wonder anyone even lives here.

Ymir kept the hood on her military jacket up, hiding her face from anyone that crossed her path. Others would’ve noticed a change in the girl’s posture and walk. It was straight. Uniform. No hands in her pockets, but by her sides. Something happened.

Certain people have changed like her. Ever since the Gates showed up.

She walked up to an apartment building, turning her head up so that she could see it fully. It was run-down. A place only scum would live.

And she was looking for scum.

 

* * *

 

“Nah, man, I have smoked better than this.”

“What? Dude, this shit is amazing.”

“What shit have you been smoking?”

“This!”

“That’s shit.”

“This is not that shitty, Isaak!”

Isaak laughed as he pushed himself off the table. “Can you believe this guy, Lars?”

Lars was inserting bullets into a clip. He looked over. “I don’t really care, Isaak.”

Isaak chuckled. “Why? More focused on your stupid little guns?”

“The guns that we use? Yeah.”

“Well you can focus on those later, we-”

A loud pounding at the door interrupted him. All three of the men in the room looked towards the front door.

“What was that?” A man from another room called out.

Isaak shrugged. “I will check it.”

As he walked over, Lars put the clip into his gun and pulled back the slide, holding it at the ready.

Isaak wrapped his fingers around the doorknob and twisted it before pulling it wide open, with Lars aiming at the visitor.

In the entrance stood a tall figure, hood draped over their face.

Isaak cocked an eyebrow at the person. “And who are you?”

They lifted their head to reveal the face of a young tan woman, at least fifteen, with eyes staring blankly at them. “Is this the apartment of an Isaak Bäcker?”

He looked over his shoulder at the others before looking at her, a small smirk appearing on his lips. “It might be. Who is asking?”

She reached up and pulled back the hood, showing her dark brown hair. “My name is Ymir.”

He leaned against the doorway. “Uh-huh...and why are you here today...Ymir?”

She remained silent for a moment, staring at him with intense eyes. He began to feel uneasy when she spoke again.

“It was really easy to find you once I got my head focused. I didn’t need a private investigator.”

He frowned. “W-what?”

“You ever heard of geographic profiling?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s a criminal investigative methodology that analyzes the locations of a connected series of crimes to determine the most probable area of the offender’s residence. They mostly use it for serial murder or rape...I am here for the latter.”

“What are you-”

“May 3rd, 2009. Abigail Klein. Thirteen. Raped and found almost beaten to death in a gutter. She was a classmate of yours.”

“Wha-”

“September 24th, 2010. Leonie Färber. Fifteen. Raped. Found dead in alleyway. She was a small friend.”

“I don’t-”

“November 16th, 2011. Jessika Kaufmann. Sixteen. Found tied up and sexually assault by a table leg. She worked for your mother.”

Isaak began to take steps back into the apartment. Ymir followed him in. Every step back, she took a step forward.

“March 20th, 2012. Wanda Koch. Seventeen. Chained. Beaten. Raped. All in a small warehouse by the docks. She was also a classmate.

“January 9th, 2013. Sara Zimmerman. Eighteen. Gang raped and left in an alley. She was living in the same apartment block as you.

“June 29th, 2014. Lucia Adler. Sixteen again. Raped and killed. Her body was found on the beach. She was the girlfriend of one of your old friends.”

She eventually backed him to a table, he leaned back as she leaned in. Venom was in her voice as she spoke, “August 13th, 2015. Helena Peterson. Fifteen. Found raped in a dumpster. You worked with her father at some point.”

“Uh…”

“I found you out. You had a little comfort zone to kidnap or rape girls. I tracked you down. Found the connections. And now here I am.”

Isaak’s surprised face disappeared. “Well you made a mistake.”

“Oh really? Why?”

Isaak’s friends came out and surrounded her.

“Because I got my friends here with me.”

Ymir glanced at the other three. “And?”

He smirked. “Get her, boys.”

The first one to step in was Lars, who pointed his gun at her head, smiling. His teeth were yellowed. Cracked. Ugly.

Ymir’s eyes turned red as she flicked her finger.

_Shing!_

The barrel to his pistol suddenly fell off, clinking against the floor. He held the rest of the gun into view, wide eyed. He looked back at Ymir. “What the-”

He was interrupted by her slightly swinging her arm to the side. Lars was sent flying off to the right, hitting a wall hard.

Isaak’s eyes widened. “What...what the fuck are you?”

Ymir blinked at him, holding her hand up. “I am Ymir.” She sliced her hand down towards his friend, her eyes glowing red once again.

Blood spattered across the wall behind him as she sliced his head clean off. His headless body slumped to it’s knees before slamming the ground beneath it.

Then she looked over her shoulder at the man behind her, who had a terrified look on his face. He twisted around to run for the door when Ymir’s eyes glowed red and she sliced diagonally at him.

The only part that made it out the door was a half of his upper half.

Ymir looked back at Isaak, who was paralyzed with fear. She leaned to the side to see Lars getting back up. She held her hand out, turning it into a finger gun. Her eyes glowed red as she jerked her hand back.

“Pow,” she muttered.

Lars looked at her before he pushed back against the wall, but this time with a hole punched through his head. Blood leaked down his face.

Ymir leaned back in to look at Isaak. She blinked. “You hurt someone that is very important to me. Right now I have no conscience to spar for the likes of you. Yet she is all I think about. That’s why I am going to make you pay for hurting her. Right here. Right now.

Isaak crawled back onto the table, shaking his head frantically and whimpering, “No...no...please, God, no.”

She raised her hand, her eyes glowing red. “Trust me, Isaak. He isn’t listening.”

* * *

****  
  


Helena glanced up at the clock, seeing that the short hand was already at six. Ymir is late, she thought to herself, wondering what the girl could be up to. She stood up from the chair, walking over to the window and peering out at the streets below. She saw couples, and families.

_But no Ymir._

She stepped away from the window, crossing her arms as Ymir’s new found behavior. _Ymir...what has happened to you? Something is different about you. You aren’t the same person that I knew. That...I love._

Suddenly, the door opened, Helena turned towards it to see Ymir entering the apartment, an almost apologetic look on her face. “Sorry. I am late again, aren’t I?”

With a sigh, the smaller girl nodded. “Yes.”

Ymir closed the door behind her. “Sorry. Got caught up in a few things.”

“Like what?”

“Errands.”

“Like?”

“Looking for a job. What’s wrong? You’d have thought I was gone for a whole fucking day, Jesus Christ,” Ymir said as she walked past.

Helena’s eyes widened.

“Ymir...is that blood?”

The taller woman looked over her shoulder at Helena, who was pointing at her back. Ymir pulled off her military jacket and held it in front of her, seeing a splash of red against it.

She glanced at Helena. “I honestly have no idea how that got there.”

Helena frowned. “Don’t lie to me, Ymir. How did that get on your jacket?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter! Ymir, are you in trouble? Is there something going on?”

“No, Helena, we are fine.”

“Then why is there blood on your jacket?”

“Like I said, I don’t know,” she said, continuing to walk to the bedroom.

“Stop lying!” Helena reached out and grabbed Ymir’s hand, trying to pull her back.

Ymir struggled to pull her away. “Helena, let go of me!” She started to get angry, and swung her arm side to side, trying to wrench it from her friend’s grasp.

Her eyes then began to glow red.

Ymir was finally able to pull her arm away. “Why are you so god damn-” She turned, her face changing from one of annoyance, to one of shock.

Helena stumbled back, a pained look in her expression as she fell to her knees and leaned back.

Her top half dropped to the ground.

For the first time since she was a child, Ymir screamed, “No!”

She kneeled by Helena’s body, taking it all in. She didn’t know what to do. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Oh my god!”

She pulled Helena’s head up. “Helena...Helena, stay with me!”

Her blood and organs were spilling out onto the ground. She breathed heavily, trying to keep herself alive, as she looked up at Ymir. She opened her mouth to say something.

Only a whimper escaped from her lips before her head hung back, her eyes wide open.

Ymir covered her mouth with her hand, horrified. She reached over to run her fingers through her light blonde hair. Tears were beginning to fall from her eyelids as she hung her head onto Helena’s. Eventually she wrapped her arms around her and pulled her top half closer to her body.

And she cried. For the first time since she was a baby.

* * *

The room was silent. Neither Historia nor Ymir said anything after the latter finished her story as she told Historia everything from talking with her mother to accidentally murdering her lover. They just kept on stepping back and forth, left and right, dancing.

“If you have anything to say about me, go ahead. If you want me to leave you alone, I will understand.”

Historia just stared up at her. Eventually she let go of Ymir’s hands and stopped.

Ymir stopped with her, standing still as she watched the smaller girl. _Is she thinking?_

Suddenly, Historia reached out and hugged Ymir, holding her close.

“Wh-wha…?”

“You just got your powers then. You didn’t know how to control them. Are you worried you might do that to me?”

Ymir was surprised at the small doll whose arms were around her. She didn’t know what to say. Slowly, she hugged Historia back.

“Yes. Yes I am.”

“Don’t be. It’s been a long time since then. You are able to control your powers. Ymir?”

She looked down at her. “Yeah?”

“I trust you.”

Ymir glanced at the wall, her mouth opened but no words coming out. She tightened her grip on Historia.

“Thank you...Historia.”

* * *

_**Twelve Years Ago, One Week After the Appearance of the Gates** _

The teenager moved gracefully through the alley, dancing with elegance. Like a ballerina she twirled and hopped past the trash cans. She looked like she was having fun, like she was happy.

But if one were to look at her face, they would see that is not the case.

She stopped, breathing heavily, her puffy red eyes looking for something to sit on. Finding nothing she just dropped to the ground, sitting and hugging her knees to her chest.

Her hands were covered in blood, her pants spattered with the red liquid. She wants to be able to sleep in a comfy bed, but she can’t go back home. Not after what she did.

_So this alley looks comfortable enough,_ she thought to herself.

Just as she was about to lay down, she heard footsteps approaching. Her eyes searched around, looking up and down the alley over and over.

She turned her head down one end to find a man in a suit standing in the middle of it. He turned and looked at her, a grin spreading across his face as he walked over.

She crawled back, away from him, slightly frightened by the man's appearance. “Wh-who are you?”

He stopped in front of her, his face covered by the shadow of his hat. “No one important. Is your name Ymir, by any chance?”

She frowned. “Why?”

“There is a new organization created since the gates have appeared.”

“...Gates?”

“Right...your powers? The appearance of the gates have given you those. There is a name for people like you. Contractors. This organization I speak of is gathering them up to work for them.”

“What is this organization called?”

The man smirked.

“We call ourselves The Syndicate.”

* * *

**_“Without knowing I'm alone_ **

**_underneath this moonlight,_ **

**_I called out only your name”_ **

**_ Studio Ereannie _ **

**_ Writer: _ **

**Freelance7**

_**Supervising Producers/ Editors:** _

**Nakamatoo**

**Insomniatic Titan**

**Dorminchu**

**Ghastmine**

**Euregatto**

 

****  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you guys for reading! As you can see I decided to focus more on a single character and I think I shall do this for the whole season. Of course the story will progress but I want to get these character’s backstories out there. Hope you enjoyed!


	3. The Story of Crystals

_**18 Years Ago** _

 

“Push kick!”

“Hah!”

“Give me a one-two-kick!”

“Hah, hah, _hah!”_

“That’s my girl! Now, one more, okay? Give me a inside crescent then an outside.”

The small girl swung her foot inside before swinging it outside, then decided to twist around and kick out to finish it off.

The father stepped back, giving a short laugh before nodding. “You have improved, Ann. I am impressed. You definitely are a Leonhardt.” He reached over and ruffled her hair.

She covered her head. “Daddy! Stop!” She gave a cute little laugh.

He crouched down and poked her nose. “You got the nose to prove it.”

She then covered her nose. “Dad!”

He stepped back, holding his hands up. “I can’t help it, you’re my baby girl.”

“Are we done?” She asked, smiling and laughing.

He nodded and turned his head to the house they were in the backyard of. “Yes. Your mother is probably home so I will help her. If you want you can practice out here or go to your friend’s house.”

“I am gonna go check on Mina. She was sick so I wanted to see if she is okay.”

“That’s fine. Take the fence entrance. Don’t want you being out front.”

“Okay, daddy.” She ran to the fence, pulling one of the posts to the side so that she could crawl through.

The father smiled at her before walking inside, seeing his wife washing some pots. “Hey, honey. Annie is going to Mina’s house.”

The mother looked up at him, her blue eyes sparkling in the light as she smiled back. “That’s good. I heard Mina was sick.”

“Yeah, she just told me. She is going over there to make sure she was okay.”

The mother nodded. “Good. She is such a sweet little girl.”

Silence followed. The father spoke.

“I will be increasing the training soon. I need to make sure she is tough before she becomes a woman.”

The woman’s love soon turned to worry. She placed the pot down and turned the water off, turning around to lean against the counter. “Why can’t you let her do what she wants?”

“By training her, she will be able to protect herself and others from predators.”

“But you will be depriving her of a social life.”

“She can be social after she is done with training.”

“How will she find a nice boy with no social experience?”

“She has Mina.”

“She isn’t a boy. I want our daughter to have a normal life.”

“She is a Leonhardt. Leonhardts are tough.”

“Even the women?”

“...Yes.”

“I swear, Otto, you don’t seem to care what I want for our daughter.”

“I just want her to be able to protect herself.”

“Then train her. Just don’t do it so hard.”

“I have to. Or else she won’t learn.”

“She is a smart girl. She will learn without the tough training.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

“How?”

“I am a mother, Otto, I know these things. I know my daughter.”

“And I know her too. I know what’s right for her.”

The mother narrowed her eyes at her husband. Eventually she released a breath of annoyance from her lips and turned around to continue washing the pots. “I need to get these cleaned for tonight. So just...just leave me alone for a bit.”

The father stared at his wife’s back for a minute before walking out of the room. The mother shook her head out of anger and impatience with her husband, muttering to herself.

* * *

 

Annie walked to the screen door and raised her fist to knock on it. She could see Mina’s mother look over her shoulder and smile at the blonde girl before stopping what she was doing to walk over and open it for. “Done using the front door?”

“My dad says it’s safer.”

“Of course. You here to see Mina?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you a good friend? Well, come in. She is in her bedroom. Keep her company.”

The mother stepped out of the way to allow Annie to walk in and make her way down the hall to Mina’s room. She saw the door was slightly cracked, so she poked her nose in. “Mina?”

“Annie? I see your nose...come in,” she heard her friend say, followed by a sniffle and a cough.

Annie pushed the door open to see her friend lying in bed, looking fatigued. Usually she had her dark hair in loose pigtails, but now they were all over, a mess.

The healthy girl pulled a chair and climbed up onto it. She was able to see her friend fully. More of her agony.

“How are you feeling, Mina?”

“Not so good.”

“Aww...did you get soup?”

“My mommy got me some.”

“That’s good.” She reached into her sweatshirt pocket and pulled out a Fire Lily, which is a strikingly bright orange flower. “My dad said these flowers usually only grow in the mountains. He was able to find a way to plant them here. I thought they would help you get better.” She held it out to her friend.

Mina couldn’t help but smile. “Give them to my mom. She will put them in a vase.”

“Okay.” Annie hopped off the chair and walked out of the room, making her way back to Mina’s mother. “Excuse me.”

She turned around and smiled at the little girl. “Hey, Annie.”

The girl held up her fire lily. “Mina said you can put this in a vase. I got it for her.”

Her smile widened. “Aww, aren’t you just the sweetest friend ever? Mina is lucky to have a friend like you.”

Annie grinned. “Really?”

“Yeah, I do. Please stay with her, Annie. Watch my little girl. I don’t know, but I can tell she isn’t going to be a responsible one when she grows up. I know you are going to be a very strong and respectful woman. Just please...keep an eye on her?”

Annie looked into the mother’s eyes, seeing the worry for her own daughter in them. She knew Mina was a friend she’d want to keep. So she chose the obvious answer.

“Yes.”

 

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

“Yes,” Annie said into the phone, leaning on a wall looking through the bedroom door at the blank faced Mina sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the window. Not through it.

“I disagree,” she replied, pushing herself off of the wall and walking away from the room into the kitchen of her very expensive suite-looking apartment. _Syndicate gives the best,_ she thought to herself as she listened to the person on the other line.

She kept the phone wedged between her cheek and her shoulder as she got to work chopping up carrots in a quick fashion, slid them into her hand, and threw them into the small wok cooking over the stove, where rice and celery was cooking. She tossed it around slightly to keep the juices from flowing out of the ingredients, which keeps the food crispy.

She stopped her continuous tossing from time to time to toss in meats and seasonings, the latter including garlic and scallions.

“I have always disagreed with you on this matter. I _will_ always disagree with you on this matter.”

She turned off the stove and turned her back to it, taking the phone in her hand again. “You will never have her. You will _never_ replace her. She is not just an excellent doll who follows orders, but she is one of the upper nails on the poster of our deal. She gets pulled out, the poster, and the deal, will fall and hang. And if that happens, so will you.”

She hung up and put the phone face down on the counter. “Damn them,” she cursed, turning back to the wok with a stone-faced look. She got out two plates and was able to get two good full plates of the fried rice. She took them and walked down the hall to the bedroom.

As she walked in, Mina turned her head, acknowledging her presence.

Annie tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry, it was just someone from my work at Section 4.”

“I wasn’t worrying. But you sounded threatening.”

“Yeah...they were pissing me off. Anyway, here is dinner,” she said, holding out the bowl.

Mina reached out and took it, putting it on her lap before she began to eat it.

Annie sat down next to her, eating hers. “So how is it?”

Mina put the spoon back into the rice and nodded her head once. “I like it. Thank you for making me this.”

“It’s no problem. I am just taking care of a friend. We have been with each other through the years, why shouldn’t I make you food when you can’t do it yourself?”

“Because I’m a burden,” Mina said simply.

Annie frowned at her. “No, you aren’t. You and I have been together for so long, helping each other out. Without you, I wouldn’t know where my targets were.”

“But that big man was yelling at me.”

“He doesn’t understand dolls. He isn’t like me. You know me, Mina, I am different.”

“How?”

“Because he doesn’t know you like I do. You are my link.”

“Yeah. Link to feeling like a human.”

There was silence.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

More silence followed.

“How’s your back?”

“Oh, it’s fine. It’ll heal.”

Silence.

“Annie?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Annie felt a corner of her lip twitch up before twitching back to normal. “Thank _you,_ Mina.”

She placed the bowl on the bed and slowly wrapped her arms around her friend, pulling her into a hug. Mina let her do it, staring at the wall with blank eyes. On the outside, she looked like she didn’t care.

But, on the inside, she cared for her friend more than anything.

 

 

* * *

 

_**“I don’t want anything anymore** _

_**I don’t feel the same way as before** _

_**In the crack between two entwined chests** _

_**This parched body that only desires will”** _

__

**Episode Three**

_**The Story of Crystals** _

 

* * *

 

**_16 Years Ago_ **

 

“Can’t I...just...slow down…a bit?” Annie gasped as she tried to decrease her running speed.

Her father, on the other hand, was a good distance ahead of her on the dirt trail, sprinting at full speed. He looked over his shoulder, frowning. “No! You don’t slow down! You keep going! No breaks, Ann!”

Annie coughed as she stopped and bent over, wheezing to get some air into her lungs. “Please...dad...I...I can’t…”

Otto looked over his shoulder again and sighed, stopping before running over. “Come on, sit down, come on,” he said, helping her sit down.

Crouching down in front of her, he examined the nine year old girl in front of him. He then pulled out a canteen and passed it to her. “Here, take small sips, alright? If you drink too much too fast it will upset your body.”

Annie turned her small head up, pushing some hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. She was still breathing heavily. “Really? Like...like how?”

Otto held his hand up and began to count with his fingers. “Upset stomach, soreness, dizziness. Sometimes dangerous things if you drink too much, like brain swelling. Just a little bit to wet your lips and throat.”

She looked at the canteen before nodding and unscrewing the cap to get a big sip from it. She passed it back, keeping the water in her mouth for a bit, then gulping it down.

Otto then took a sip from it.

“Daddy?”

He glanced at her. “Yes, Ann?”

“Why are we doing this?”

“Doing what, specifically?”

“All this working out. It seems a bit...unneeded.”

Her father pursed his lips. “Because you will need to learn how to protect yourself from those that could do harm to you. Listen, Ann, you’re no longer a little girl anymore, you’re turning into a woman. And people might take advantage of you because of that. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

Annie’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

Otto sighed before standing up, grabbing his daughter’s wrist to pull her up. “Just...keep your friends close to you, but treat the rest of the world as your enemy. Understand?”

“Daddy, I-”

_“Understand?”_

She went silent. “Okay, daddy.”

Suddenly, she felt a droplet of water hit her nose. She turned her head up as it began to sprinkle.

“It’s starting to rain. Come on, Annie, we need to get moving. Pull your hood up.”

Annie nodded and pulled the hood on her sweatshirt up as her father continued to run down the path, which was turning from dirt into mud.

She ran after her father, trying to pace her breathing, turning it into a rhythm in her head. The rain began to come down like bullets upon her body, which actually helped her cool down. Slowly, she stopped, letting her father run ahead.

She pulled down her hood and turned her head up, closing her eyes to feel the rain hit her face. They felt cool against her warm skin.

She loved it.

She loved the rain.

She loved nature.  

 

* * *

 

_**Present Day** _

Annie kept her eyes closed as let the water cascade down her nude figure, letting the warm droplets cleanse her body. She winced as they touched the wounds on her back, which were already healing well. She soon got used to the pain as she reached over to grab a soap bar.

* * *

 

 

She pulled her hair back to tie it up in her messy bun after drying it with a towel. She had also put on her underwear and undershirt before walking out of the bathroom. Her eyes glanced to the right to see Mina standing next to the door, wearing new clothing and looking cleaner. “Thank you for the bath.”

Annie shrugged. “Don’t mention it. I am just being a friend. So you will be good here alone again?”

Mina gave a single nod. “Yes.”

“Alright,” she said, walking to her bedroom to get her work clothes on as she spoke, “Just remember that if you need to eat anything, the pantry and fridge are able to be opened.”

“Thank you, Annie.”

“If you need me, just call me. Remember to keep you eyes out on the targets,” she said, pointing at a potted plant in the corner. More specifically, the dirt beneath the plant. She smoothed her pencil skirt out. “Call me if anything comes up, yes?”

Mina once again gave a single nod.

“Okay, good. See you later, Mina.”

“Bye Annie.”

With that, Annie turned around and walked out of the apartment, leaving Mina all to herself. The doll looked to the plant.

* * *

 

 

Annie always showed up to work early, second only to the captain, who would come out to see her working as soon as he got himself set up.

She glanced up at him as he stared at her, as if he was scanning her. Scanning for threats.

His body relaxed. She internally sighed in relief.

“Any messages, Ms. Leonhardt?”

Annie looked at her computer screen, tapping away at the keyboard. She shook her head. “No, Mr. Ackerman.”

He nodded and straightened his tie before pivoting on his heel and walking back to his office. “Well the agents will be in soon. Oh yeah,” he stopped and looked over his shoulder, “How was your date with Agent Jaeger?”

She didn’t look away from her screen. She recalled asking Levi for permission, after Eren had asked her out, if it was alright to attend a date with him. She just wondered if it was against jurisdiction to act on such trivial matters such as “dating”. He gave permission either way.

“It was fine. This was my first time being on one, but it was fine nonetheless.”

“Good. I am glad,” he said before continuing to his office.

She went back to typing, her mind going elsewhere. To last night.

 

* * *

 

_**Last Night** _

Annie hated the night life. The drinking. The drugs. The dicks. She wished they didn’t have to meet in such a public place to talk.

But as Reiner came back to the table carrying four bottles of beer, she couldn’t help but think why he was even in this group. _He wasn’t a leader nor a fighter. I don’t even know what his power is,_ she thought.

He put the beers in the center and passed them around, giving one to each of them, even her and Mina.

She pushed hers away and took Mina’s to give to Bertholdt. “I don’t drink, and neither does she.”

Reiner wrinkled his nose and sneered. “Fine...prude,” he muttered the last part. Annie knew he wanted her to hear him, and she wished her knife was nearby. _Maybe I can use glass...never tried it._

She decided not to. Too public. She sighed and rested her cheek on her fist as Reiner opened his bottle and took a swig. “So we failed...yet again.”

Annie straightened her back, wincing from her recent wounds. “They are smart. May I ask what’s with the doll? What’s so special about her that The Syndicate needs to hire us?”

“Classified,” Bertholdt said, sipping his beer. Now that she thought about it, she never saw his power either.

“To who?”

“All of us,” Reiner sighed, looking around the pub they were in.

“So what do we do now?” Annie looked between them.

“We continue to look for them. The boss says we either get the doll back or we don’t get paid.”

“Well that’s obvious. Alright, can we give Mina a break until tomorrow?”

“Why should we?” Reiner asked.

“Because she has been working almost all day today. She needs rest.”

“She’s a goddamn doll.”

“This doll has done what it has been set to do, and is willing to do more. In order to work her best, she needs to sleep.”

Reiner was silent for a moment, staring at Annie with anger. “You know, we can easily replace her with another one. One that doesn’t need rest.”

Fury sparked behind Annie’s sapphire eyes, angered at Reiner’s remark of her friend. “You replace Mina, then you will have to replace me.”

“We can do that too.”

“Reiner!” Bertholdt exclaimed, “Annie is one of the best agents The Syndicate has. We fire her, the boss will _not_ be happy.”

The big blonde grimaced in annoyance. He avoided looking at Annie. “Ugh...fine. We keep the doll.”

Annie glanced at Bertholdt and gave him a single nod before looking at Mina and wrapping an arm around her to pull her close.

“We'll be taking a break for the rest of the night, then she'll be back on surveillance tomorrow. That shouldn't be any problem, right?”

Reiner narrowed his eyes. “She better.”

Annie nodded. “Alright. Can we leave now?’

“No,” Reiner said, holding up a finger, “One last thing. I heard you had a little...date...with a Section 4 agent earlier today.”

Bertholdt cocked an eyebrow. “Is this true?”

Annie remained stone-faced. “Yes, it’s true. I believe it’s an effective way to find out more of what they know about us.”

Reiner frowned. “Are you sure you won’t let your personal feelings interfere?”

“I am a contractor. Why would I?”

“Well you are also a woman, and women tend to be more-heugh!”

Suddenly Reiner was grabbed by the collar and pulled across the table, finding himself face to face with Annie, who had a blank face, but fire in her eyes. She spoke in a cold, annoyed voice, “I can break a cup and slit your throat before anyone can even hear the sound of glass breaking. And trust me, Reiner, I am fully capable of doing it. So what I ask of you is to stop being an asshole and respect all of your peers. It’s a simple thing to do. Do you understand me?”

Reiner was at a loss for words. Never had he seen Annie speak as long as she did, and what truly frightened him was the gruesome detail of what she would do to him. He began to nod. “Yeah...yeah okay, Annie.”

She scanned his eyes, only seeing some form of fear, before pushing him back into his seat.

She looked at Bertholdt. “I think it’s time we went to our respectable homes. I will see you two tomorrow.”

She got out of the booth and took Mina by the hand to lead her out of the joint, leaving Bertholdt and Reiner to their own devices.

 

* * *

 

Present Day

 

Annie's attention soon was focused on the elevator as the doors opened, realizing the sibling agents, Eren and Mikasa, entering the room. Eren’s eyes soon drew attention to Annie as he saw her.

“Mikasa, you go on ahead. I need to talk to Annie.”

“About what?’

“About something. Please?”

Mikasa shot a glance at Annie, before heading to the meeting room.

The agent straightened his tie as he walked up to the desk. “Listen...I am really sorry about last night.”

Annie was confused. “Explain.”

“Uh...well...our date...it didn’t look like you were enjoying it.”

“I was.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And I was thinking we could plan another. Does tomorrow night seem like the optimal time for you?”

Eren stood there, surprised by the news that Annie actually enjoyed their date. He thought he was atrocious.

Eventually, he nodded. “Yeah...yeah, sure that’s fine. Same time?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, see you the-”

Suddenly, the elevator doors opened and a frantic Jean burst into the room, breathing heavily. “I fucked up!” He shouted, holding papers in his clenched fist.

Erens attention quickly turned to Jean, surprised by his sudden appearance and outburst. Annie continued to show no reaction to this, and continued to stare at the  agent

A door down the hall opened, with quick footsteps following until the captain appeared from around a corner. He glanced at everyone before settling his eyes on Jean. “What happened?”

Jean regained his breath, holding the papers up. “BK-104 showed activity last night, these are the reports.”

Levi walked over and snatched the reports from Jean’s hands, scanning the contents. Then, in a moment of anger, he threw them to the ground. “And where were you?” He asked.

Ashamed, Jean held his head down, not daring to look at his superior in the eye. “I, uh...I fell asleep.”

Levi then seized Jean’s jacket by his collar and slammed him against the elevator doors. Levi then proceed to pick up the documents that were on the floor and chucked them at Jean.“Your little fuck up could cost lives, Agent Kirschtein, you know that?” After pressing the elevator button, Levi grabbed Jean again and threw him inside.“You get back there right now, load up on coffee, and call us when there is activity, understand? Another screw up like this and lives lost will be the least of _your_ worries.”

He reached in and pressed the button for the first floor, sending Jean back down.

Levi looked over his shoulder at the other agents. “I can’t have anymore mistakes. We can’t have anymore mistakes.”

Silence and shock engulfed the entire room.

“Understand?”

As the agents nodded in agreement, Annie was the only one who spoke, “Yes, sir.”

Levi cleared his throat before straightening his jacket and leaving the room. “Back to work!”

Eren nodded and smiled at Annie, before he followed Mikasa back into the meeting room.

Annie tucked her fringe behind her ear, her eyes staring at the computer screen. Her mind went elsewhere, just for a moment, before being snapped back to reality.

 

* * *

 

_**14 Years Ago** _

 

Annie tucked her fringe behind her ear as she looked out the window at the rain, wishing that she play outside in the cold with Mina.

“Annie! Where’s that cloth?”

Her head snapped towards her parents’ room, where her father’s voice came from. Her eyes turned down at the warm wet towel in her hands. She inhaled and walked with haste down the hall.

“Annie!”

Entering the room, she looked down, holding the cloth out. She felt it be taken from her hands. “Thank you, Annie...Annie, look up. Look at your mother.”

A sigh escaped her lips. Her head turned up to see a figure lying in the bed, deathly pale, and asleep. Her father placed the cloth across her mother’s forehead.

“She is getting worse. I fear that-”

Before he could finish, Annie inhaled sharply and ran out of the room, Otto wanted nothing more than to follow his own daughter and comfort her. To share her pain with her when she shouldn't face this alone. But he couldn't. Not when his wife needed him.

* * *

 

Annie slammed the door behind herself, stepping out into the muddy backyard, getting pelted by rain. She couldn't bear it. The helplessness, the fear, all of it. Her mother was about to be taken from her from some disease. _And I can’t do a thing about it!_

She hated this. She hated being useless. _Only good for warm cloth,_ she thought to herself, sitting down on the ground, causing mud to splash about. She ran her fingers through her hair, feeling tears running down her cheeks. _Or were those raindrops?_ _I don’t know._

Here she was, an eleven year old girl, unable to know if she was crying or not because of the damned rain, when all she wanted to do was cry for her mother.

So that God could see she needed help.

 

* * *

 

_**Present Day** _

 

Annie kicked the stand on her motorbike down, pulling her helmet off, revealing her nape length light blonde hair. She placed the helmet on the bike and put her hair up in a messy bun. Her head turned up at the familiar sign.

“Gilbert’s Gems And Minerals,” she said to herself. She goes here frequently, so the people know her well.

She got off the bike, a black Honda CL350, and stuck her hands in her jacket pockets before walking into the store.

Inside, she could see a variety of gems displayed on the counter. _Already have most of these,_ she thought to herself.

The man at the counter wore the usual fake smile that Annie was accustomed to. By now in her life, Annie is able to tell the difference between a smile that is genuine, and a farce. “Ahh if it isn’t Miss Leonhardt! May I help you?”

“I am looking for a quartz. Blades of Light.”

He nodded and tapped away at the keyboard, once again nodding, this time to himself, as he walked away into the back. As she waited, she pulled out her wallet and checked how much money she had, which was a lot, considering her so called “job” and her actual job.

The man came back holding the gem. “I hope 35 millimeters will be enough.”

“Yeah, that’s perfect, actually.”

“Okay, then that will be eight euros.”

Annie nodded and gave them to him. “I’ll take the receipt.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “I was going to give it either way.”

She sniffed. “Alright,” she said simply, grabbing the gem and putting it in her pocket. Twisting on her heel, she exited the store.

Annie grabbed her helmet, placed it on her head, and got on her motorcycle.

Revving it up, she heard the engine roar to life. She kicked the stand up and rode off.

 

* * *

 

 

_**13 Years Ago** _

 

Birthday presents are something someone should be excited for. Something they should look forward to and love as much as the person who gave it to them.

Annie’s present was the worst of them all.

A trip to her mother’s funeral.

Usually, or at least from what she saw in movies, they were brought there in a car. She is being brought here on the back of her father’s motorcycle, clinging to him for dear life.

He stopped just outside of the funeral, where the others were waiting for them. “Stay on, there is something we need to talk about.”

She sat on the bike, watching him as he kicked the stand down, got off and turned to her. “Dad?” She asked, her voice cracking slightly. She already did her amount of crying this morning. But she know more crying was in order.

He put his hands on his hips. “I know this is a...a hard time for you. It’s a hard time for me as well.”

She didn’t know where this was going, but she already wasn’t liking it.

“But I can’t have you being weak during the funeral.”

Annie frowned. “D-...Dad?”

“No crying. Not a whimper. I need you to stay strong.”

“Dad, how can-”

“We have been training so much, training so hard...I want it to show. You can cry after, when no one sees you, but right now, be strong.”

“Dad, I can’t-”

“You can. You are twelve. Soon...very soon, and I mean it this time, you will be a woman. You must show how strong you are...like how I know you are.”

Annie was silent. She couldn’t believe this. _How can I not cry during a funeral?_

He raised his eyebrows. “Okay?”

She nodded once, choking out a single word. “Okay.”

* * *

 

 

Many familiar people were there. Aunts. Uncles. Friends. And then people she never met or knew about. All standing around a box carrying her dead mother.

Annie was ready to burst into tears. To run to the box, rip it open, and hug her mother. To admit she is scared to her and wish that her mother was still alive to wrap her arms around her daughter.

Then the box began to lower, to descend into the earth. She didn’t want this, she will never see her mother again. Never be held or comforted. Especially in a time when she will be needing her the most.

It was too much. The pain was building up inside. She had to release it soon.

As it begun to disappear beneath the soiled earth, a shriek came from her lips. She fell to her knees and crawled to the edge of the grave, looking down at the coffin her mother was in. She cried.

“Mom, please! Don’t leave me! Mom!”

People in the crowd began to tear up at this display of love for one’s mother. Otto, on the other hand, was doing well in keeping his disappointment inside. He knew full well that he is going to have to scold her for her display of weakness.

Tears streamed down the young child’s cheeks as she saw her mother going farther and farther down.

Never to come back up again.

 

* * *

 

_**Present Day** _

 

Annie kicked the stand down once she reached her spot in the underground parking lot that belonged to the apartment building. She pulled her helmet off and kept it held under one arm as she walked out.

Feeling a drop of something hit her head, she tucked her fringe behind her ear as she turned her head upwards. Another drop, then another. Slowly, the drops came faster.

“More rain,” she muttered to herself, “I guess it’s a given.”

 

* * *

 

_**12 Years Ago, 7 Months Before The Appearance of the Gates** _

 

“Alright, come on, come on, Annie! Remember to dodge!”

“Of course, father.”

“Then let’s dance!”

Quickly, Otto went in for a jab at her rib. She stepped back, dodging it, before coming in for a high kick.

He twirled out of the way, grabbing her ankle and pulling her to the ground, causing her to grunt from the impact, but she got back to her feet and into her stance.

Otto began an uppercut, only for Annie to step to the side and jab him in the ribs, he groaned and threw a punch at her chest, hitting her square in the center. She flew back, landing and sliding across the ground of their backyard.

“Ahhh…” Annie moaned, rolling onto her stomach.

“Get up,” her father commanded.

“Just hold on,” she grunted as she sat herself up, then proceeded to get back up to her feet.

She dusted herself off patting her shoulders and looking down to pat her white trousers when she noticed something.

A growing red stain in between her legs.

Her eyes widened. “Dad…”

Otto looked over his shoulder. “What?” He turned around.

She looked up at him then back down at the stain.

He glanced down at it, his eyes widening too. “Oh...uh…”

“Daddy!” Annie got down on her knees, staring at the growing red spot. She began to feel warm liquid touch her inner thigh.

Her father just stared, not sure what to do. Her mother isn’t around anymore, so it’s up to him.

So he ran.

Annie’s head snapped up to look at him, eyes wide in shock as her father ran away from his daughter who was in need of help.

So here she was, alone in the backyard, becoming a woman right there and now.

At first she kneeled there in silence, thinking about her life leading up to now, and what would happen if a certain someone was with her.

“Mom…” She cried, her eyes stinging with tears. “Mom, please, help me.”

Suddenly, the back door opened again. A single scared voice emitted from inside.

“Annie!”

Her head snapped up to see her friend Mina running over to her, practically sliding to her knees, wrapping her arms around her friend.

“It’ll all be okay, Annie, I promise! Your dad told us everything! My mother is coming to help!”

She continued to ramble on about her being okay, and that she has been through it too.

For once, since her mother passed away, Annie felt truly comforted.

 

* * *

 

Mina blinked at the toaster in front of her, waiting for it to make the ding noise to signal that her pastry was ready. Usually, Annie would be here by now to cook something. _She probably just has more work to do,_ Mina thought to herself.

_Ding!_ The toaster popped out a pastry, ready to eat.

She picked it up, looking down at it. She almost seemed to be admiring it, but slowly brought it to her mouth. Just as she was about to take a bite, the door opened, with Annie standing in the doorway.

Mina’s eyes lifted from the pastry to her friend. “Oh...you’re home.”

Annie put her helmet on the nearest table as she looked at her friend. “Yeah, my apologies for being late. Had to replenish my collection. Oh, I see you made yourself something.”

The doll’s eyes landed on the pastry. “Oh...yes. I did not know when you would come home, so I heated up something easy. Will you still make dinner?”

Annie nodded. “Of course. Don’t worry about it, Mina,” she said as she closed the door behind herself, “So, did you do anything else while I was away?”

“Surveillance. Drank water. Surveillance. More water. Bathroom. Surveillance.”

“You know you shouldn’t do surveillance so much if you don’t want to,” Annie said as she began to pull out ingredients for an Italian dish.

“I have to. Reiner will get mad. They will kill me.”

Annie’s hands balled into fists at the sound of the name, crushing the box of noodles in her right hand. She set it down and supported herself on the counter, her fingernails almost penetrating the tough marble top. When she spoke, venom coursed through her voice, “Mina, no one is going to kill you. It will be over my dead body if things come to that. And you should not give a shit about Reiner. He is an asshole.”

She heard a faint _plop_ behind her. She turned her head to see that Mina dropped the pastry.

“Oh...Mina,” Annie exhaled as she walked over and crouching down to pick it up.

As she stood up, she felt two arms embrace her and gently pull her close. It was Mina.

“Mina…?” Annie whispered. She slowly pulled back, trying to look at her friend.

Her eyes widened slightly.

Tears were falling down Mina’s cheeks, but her facial features remained emotionless.

She muttered a single word. “Annie…”

“Yes?”

“Am I useless? Am I a burden?”

“Mina, I-...no, Mina.”

“Say it.”

“Mina...you are not a burden whatsoever.”

“Not to you? Not to the group?”

“You are not a burden to anyone.”

 

* * *

 

_**12 Years Ago, Five Days After the Appearance of the Gates** _

 

Annie sat in the center of the backyard, hands on her knees, eyes closed in meditation, something she has been trying to do for several months since her “transformation” into a woman. It hasn’t gotten any easier, but thankfully, it hasn’t gotten harder either.

She was focusing on the better parts of her life: books, fighting, rocks, Mina. Things that help her cope. It helps clear her mind. It helps her before she begins her practice once her father returns from work.

She inhaled. Exhaled. Relaxed. She was in perfect serenity.

“Annie!” A familiar voice screamed.

Her eyes snapped open to see Mrs. Carolina in the back doorway, staring at the blonde in horror with puffy red eyes.

Annie frowned. “Misses Carolina? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Mina! She’s...she’s changed!”

* * *

 

 

Annie followed the mother through the halls as she explained the situation. “She just...won’t respond. She stares, she only stares with these...blank eyes.”

Annie rounded the corner with the scared woman, not sure what to say. To be honest, she was afraid Mina was dying somehow.

Mrs. Carolina stopped outside of Mina’s door, putting her hand on the knob. She hesitated, her breathe shaky. She then crossed herself, muttering words to herself.

_Praying that her daughter will somehow be normal as soon as she opens the door,_ Annie thought to herself.

The mother gave one last look at Annie before nodding and opening the door, followed by a sharp intake of breathe. Annie peeked inside.

There, sitting on the edge of the bed, sat a thirteen year old girl, her grey eyes focused on the wall, like it was the most fascinating thing in the room.

_This isn’t Mina,_ Annie thought, _it can’t be. Mina is full of life. This person is just...dead._

Annie looked at Mrs. Carolina, who was wringing her hands, eyes becoming moist for the second time that day.

“Misses Carolina?” She muttered.

The mother kept her eyes on her daughter. “Yes...Annie?”

“You think it will be okay if I brought her outside to talk?”

She looked at the small girl, then back at her daughter. Her head nodded once. “Yes...that will be fine.”

* * *

 

 

Neck outstretched, the white stork soared through the air, wings spanning two hundred and fifteen centimeters wide. While the name suggests it’s color, it’s flight feathers are black, due to the pigment melanin. It’s dull brown eyes were also surrounded by black skin. This was an adult, as it’s beak was red.

Here, in Germany, they used to be associated with stillborn or handicapped babies, as they were said to have dropped the baby en route to the household. However, it is also said that if a stork were to plant it’s nest on one’s house, it would protect the house from fire.

When Mrs. Carolina was pregnant, and her husband was still alive, she demanded that they build a place on top of the house for a white stork to plant it’s nest. She always loved that folklore and wanted it to be true, as to protect her unborn daughter from harm.

Unfortunately, as Mrs. Carolina looks out beyond the sliding glass door at her now thirteen year old daughter, she realizes that it was all for naught. Her daughter is sitting in the backyard with her best friend, who is trying to talk to her. The mother couldn’t hear them talk, but she could see Mina’s mouth open briefly from time to time.

* * *

 

 

Annie had Mina’s hands in hers, holding them tight. Sometimes she would squeeze them hard, just to get a response from the girl.

But Mina didn’t even wince.

“Mina?”

The girl blinked, acknowledging her name. “Annie…”

Annie nodded. “Yes...you know who I am right?”

A single nod. “Yes...friend.”

“Best friend, Mina...I am your best friend. We knew each other since we were three.”

Mina parted her lips, then shut them.

Annie hated the silence. “What...what happened to you, Mina?”

Mina stared ahead, blinking a few times, before she looked downward. “I...don’t know.”

Annie glanced down, noticing Mina was digging her hand into the dirt. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know.” She said simply, stopping once her hand was halfway in. She turned her head up, then tilted it to the side slightly.

Her friend found this peculiar, as if things weren’t already that way. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is that the only answer you can give me?” Annie asked, raising her voice.

“I...I…”

“You don’t know?”

“Yes…”

Annie stared at her friend, her eyes shutting close as her lips quivered. She couldn’t handle this anymore. First her mother, then her friend. She is losing people, whether it is to death or some strange happening.

She could feel the tears sting her eyes, causing her to open them and allow the liquid to fall down her cheeks. She dove forward, wrapping her arms around Mina and crying on her shoulder.

The girl just sat there, staring forward, wanting to feel emotion for her friend, and yet, she could not.

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

Annie leaned against the wall, looking down at Mina as the doll sat in the bathtub, water up to her neck, covering her body from the cold air.

“How do you feel?” Annie asked, crouching down next to her friend. She reached over to grab a brush. Slowly, she ran it through Mina’s washed hair.

“Wet. Warm. Naked.”

“I mean, do you feel like you are useful.”

Mina was silent. The only sounds were the brush and droplets hitting the water.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you feel like...someone cares for you deeply?”

“You...only you.”

“Would you prefer to have more people care?”

“No...you are all I need.”

Annie nodded, putting the brush down and hugging her friend. “And you are all I need.”

As she pulled back, she looked at Mina, flashing her a brief smile. “Just remember that you will always mean something to me.”

“What am I?”

“What?”

“To you. What am I to you?”

Annie glanced downward at the edge of the bathtub, running her eyes along the white cast iron that made it up.

She muttered her answer, “A sister.”

\---

 

Later that night, Annie pulled the covers over Mina’s body. “Try to sleep, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good. I have a few things to do so don’t worry about me.”

“Okay.”

“Goodnight, Mina.”

“Goodnight.”

Annie nodded to her friend and turned off the lights before exiting the room.

\---

 

“Plates are a bitch,” Annie muttered to herself as she cleaned the plates they used for dinner over the sink. She swears, she could pass for a good mother, being able to take care of Mina for so long.

She shook her head. “She isn’t a child, she is a grown adult...doll.” She sighed, putting the last plate away before supporting herself against the counter.

Her head turned towards her bag. _Forgot the gem,_ Annie thought to herself, walking over and reaching in to pull out the quartz. She held it firm in her hand as she walked over to where a huge amount of gems from all over the world were on display in the living room of the large apartment, along with some paintings she did on her own. One of the displays were empty.

She opened her hand, looking at the stone in her hands. Her little collection, which is big now, while it did start when she was five, wasn’t a big deal to her until she got her power. Strange how hers was so close to her heart. How she got it...was almost fate.

 

* * *

 

**_9 Years Ago_ **

 

Annie looked down at her hands, clasping them together. She had been on this train for at least an hour, sitting next to her father who didn’t talk much.

The sixteen year old picked her head up, tucking her fringe behind her ear while she looked at the huge walls that hid something unknown in the center of Tokyo. At least, unknown to her. She tried to ask her dad, but he also knew nothing about it. Her heart was full of curiosity.

Already, the young woman worried for her friend Mina. The poor girl was taken out of school as soon as she got her “affliction”.

Annie pulled out her phone and checked her texts.

_Nothing._

“She will be fine, Ann.”

Annie frowned at her father. “How do you know?”

“Her mother is tough. Nothing will get past her.”

Annie looked at him a bit longer before turning her attention back to her phone. “You’re...you’re right,” she admitted, putting her phone away, “But I worry.”

“That’s normal.”

Annie kept silent for a little bit. As the train began to approach the station, she asked another question, “Why are we here again?”

“Supplies. We are gonna be here a week, might as well get what we need.”

“Right.”

“You alright?”

“Hm?”

“You seem a little off.”

“I guess...it’s just Mina.”

“Ann, she isn’t your daughter.”

“No, but she is my best friend. Since we were three, dad!”

“Hey! Don’t raise your voice with me, young lady, okay? You are here, she is there.”

Annie frowned at him again before huffing and walking off the train by herself.

“Ann!” Her father caught up with her, grabbing her wrist.

The teen whipped around and wrenched her hand from his grasp, backstepping a bit away from him. “Don’t touch me!”

People began to herd around them, curious of the scene taking place.

Otto frowned. “Ann, you need to stop caring for that invalid.”

Her eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

“She is useless to you and everyone else, even her own mother. It’s time to stop!”

Annie’s breathing went heavy. She didn’t want to be near this man anymore. She needed to get away. Her eyes looked side to side for an escape.

Then she saw it.

The walls. She could run that way and hide in one of the buildings for a while.

Annie gave one last glance at her father, narrowed her eyes, and muttered a quick, “Fuck you,” before sprinting towards the direction of the walls.

“Annie!” Her father shouted after her. He tried to run to catch up with her, but the onlookers blocked him off, giving him dirty looks. This allowed Annie to make her escape. He muttered a quick curse before running in a different direction to get the authorities.

* * *

 

Quite soon, Annie found herself getting closer to the walls, the large stone structure towering over her. What was strange, though, was that the area was becoming more and more devoid of any life.

It got even weirder once she reached the fence. _Why is this here?_ She thought to herself.

“This way!”

She looked over her shoulder, hearing her father’s voice shouting. _Shit he brought a search team?_

Instantly, she was climbing the fence, not wanting to see her father just yet.

Once she reached the top, she jumped down onto the other side when she felt her sweatshirt get snagged on it. A tearing sound followed and her fall was ended by hitting the ground with her body, not her feet.

She picked herself up, groaning from the bruises and cuts.

“I heard some noise!”

She looked over her shoulder, hearing the footsteps. She got up and set off into her sprint again, running farther into the desolate town.

* * *

 

Annie was beginning to get a weird feeling about this place. The shouting has stopped, she couldn’t even hear their echoes. A strange mist now surrounded her, growing dense. She skidded to a halt.

“Hello?” She shouted, hearing the same word echoed back to her down the streets.

Her eyes glanced around. Something was wrong. She was alone but she felt like something was watching her. It was summer, yet it was getting colder, the breath escaping from her lips visible to the naked eye.

She began to hear whispers, encroaching upon her. Growing loud. She covered her ears, trying to silence them. But that wouldn’t work. They continued to close in.

“Annie?” A familiar voice said, snuffing out the whispers.

Her eyes widened, her whole body stiffened, her breath shaky and ragged.

Slowly, she turned around.

“Oh god,” she whispered.

* * *

 

 

Otto began to fear for the worst. He never should have said those horrible things to Annie. Now she is gone. Maybe dead or worse.

“Mr. Leonhardt?” One of the officers walked up.

“Did you find her?”

“No. But we found this,” he said, holding up a white piece of cloth.

His eyes widened. “That’s...her sweatshirt...where?”

“It was caught on the fence.”

“A fence? For what?”

The officer looked at the walls. “Nothing important. We should go in and find her.”

“Yes, please.”

“This way, sir.”

He led the father to the fence, where officers were cutting through it. They made a big enough hole for them to go through.

The police, one-by-one, entered the town. Otto was the last.

As he followed them, he began to wonder of this desolate and dreary place. _What is beyond those walls?_ He thought to himself.

The officer leading him looked to one of the other men. “Found her?”

“No, but I-”

His voice was cut short by the sound of a loud high pitched shriek that could probably be heard through those thick walls. Otto knew who it was.

“Annie!” He began to run to the source of the scream, the officer leading him running behind.

The only thing on his mind right now was his daughter. Fearing the loss of another important person in his life. He ran as fast as he could.

Otto rounded the corner, seeing his daughter in the middle of the street, sitting down and holding her knees close to her chest, her face buried in her legs.

“Annie!” He shouted, crouching down next to her and putting his hands on her shoulders.

He could feel her shake uncontrollably beneath his fingers. As she raised her head, she looked at her father, fear in her eyes.

She quickly wrapped her arms around his body and pulled him close, crying into his shirt. She began to speak in rapid succession.

“I saw her, dad! I saw mom! She is dead, how is that possible! Daddy!”

He was speechless. _Thats impossible. How can that be?_

He could worry about that some other time. What needed to be done now was to be here for his daughter.

For once, he needed to comfort her.

 

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

Annie’s attention was grabbed by her cell phone, which was vibrating on the table nearby. She sighed and put the quartz in the display before walking over to answer the call, raising it up to her ear. “Hello?”

“Leonhardt. It’s Braun. I saw our friend walking out of an abandoned building. Think she might have problems. We should arrange an intervention.”

Annie knew exactly what he meant. “I agree. I will be right over.”

She hung up and walked over to the closet, opening the door to take out a black leather suitcase. She placed it on the table and opened it. The lights from the ceiling shined upon the silver metal forged in the shape of a lion’s face. She picked it up and placed it on her face, her blue eyes blocked out by black.

“Time to hunt,” she muttered.

 

* * *

 

**_Nine Years Ago_ **

 

“Annie.” Otto knocked on the door of his daughter’s room, not hearing so much as a whisper from inside. The lack of noise was beginning to worry him

Few days have past since the “incident” in Tokyo. Her behavior started to become strange, so he decided that returning home was for the best. She has been lying around in her room ever since.

He grabbed the knob and turned it, pushing the door open. His head poked in, seeing his daughter sitting on the bed, holding a piece of aquamarine in her hand. Her face expressed no emotion.

“Annie…”

Her head snapped up to look at him. “Yes father?”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Are...are you okay?”

She nodded once. “Of course. Why?” Her voice was deadpan, no tone.

“I...I just thought since-”

“Since what father?” She asked, closing her hand holding the gem. She crawled out of bed. “Since that little accident in Tokyo? To be honest, I found that experience to be fulfilling. It helped me.”

“Helped you? How?”

“It taught me who the real weak one was...you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I realized that the ones who are truly strong are the ones that aren't afraid of their emotions. And you taught me to keep those emotions bottled up, never showing them or expressing them in the slightest. Even when my mother, your wife, had died. In reality, father, you are weak. And I am so much stronger than you. And I can prove it.”

Her eyes glowed red as the aquamarine in her hand turned into a blue dagger.

His eyes widened. “What the-”

He couldn’t finish the sentence before the dagger was plunged into his heart, blood seeping from the wound. He stared into his daughter’s eyes, watching her as she pulled the dagger out, her cold blue eyes looking at him in disgust as he fell to his knees, before slamming against the ground, leaking blood onto the floor.

Her eyes glowed red once again as the dagger in her hand disappeared, leaving no evidence.

She glanced at her stone collection on the drawer, grabbing them and putting them in her sweatshirt.

_Gonna grab Mina, then get out of here._

* * *

 

Mrs. Carolina was sitting at the table, supporting her head with her hand, sadness and worry shrouding her very mind.

Her eyes snapped to the front door as someone knocked against it. She got up and walked over, wrapping her fingers around the knob before turning it and opening the door wide open.

“Oh, hello, Annie.”

The young lady wore a smile, one hand tucked in her pocket. “Hello, Miss Carolina. I wanted to see Mina.”

The mother glanced downward. “I am afraid she is no longer here, Annie.”

Annie frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

Mrs. Carolina turned around and walked back to the table, leaving the door open. “Men came the other day, when you were in Japan.”

Annie stepped into the house. “Where’s Mina?”

“I couldn’t stop them.”

The teenager began to run down the hallway, pulling a bandaged hand out of her pocket to put it on the wall as she opened the door to Mina’s room and looked inside.

It was empty.

Annie pushed herself away from the door and ran back to the mother, her voice filled with venom.

“Who took her?”

Mrs. Carolina gave her a glance. “They didn’t name themselves, they only said that they couldn’t ‘allow me to keep a doll in this place’, whatever that means. They had guns. I didn’t have a choice.”

“You still could’ve put up a fight!”

“That would have been useless. I would be dead, with no chance of seeing my daughter again.”

Annie took a deep, violent breath. She reached into her pocket and produced a garnet, orange colored.

“I am not giving up.”

The mother looked at the young girl, witnessing her eyes glow red as the garnet in her hand turning into a shard.

“Annie?”

She held the shard between her index and middle fingers, raising her wrist into the air. “I will find her. But you won’t be alive to see her.”

Mrs. Carolina’s eyes widened as she turned to run away, only for the shard to bury itself deep into the back of her head, penetrating her skull and entering her brain, killing her instantly. The garnet vanished into mist afterwards.

Annie stared at the corpse of someone she thought was like a second mother to her. She turned away and walked to the kitchen, grabbing a knife from the display.

She pulled off the bandage to show a fresh cut wound between her index finger and thumb. A healed wound was also there, next to the fresh one.

She placed the blade between them. Then she jerked her arm back, slicing open a new wound with a wince and a slight hiss.

She placed the knife in her back pocket along with another blade, pulling her sweatshirt over them.

Stepping out of the house, Annie looked side to side, her mind thinking of what to do next.

“Find her,” she said to herself, before walking down the sidewalk.

 

* * *

 

**_One Year Later_ **

 

“Please, we can talk about-hngh!”

His plea was cut short by diamond entering his frontal lobe, and exiting out his occipital lobe.

The diamond was pulled out, blood staining the perfect gem.

That was the last man alive. And now he is dead. She came here for information. Information about Mina’s whereabouts. But they lied.

They lied to her. They paid the price for lying.

The diamond in her hand vanished into thin air, leaving a seventeen year old girl covered in blood standing in the center of the blood spattered room.

"How will I ever find her?" She asked herself. Not wanting to stay around, she walked out of the room, her feet hitting the asphalt of the back alleys. Her mind was already thinking of other leads. Of other ways to get Mina back.

She was running out of them, to be honest. 

Suddenly, she began to hear the sound of clapping coming from a nearby alley exit. She pulled out a topaz and turned it into a long spike, walking towards the exit.

A man in a suit walked in only to be met with a sharp edge to his throat. He smirked at it, pulling a cigarette out from between his lips. “Woah there, missy. You wouldn’t want to kill me.”

Annie frowned. “Why not?”

“Because I know where your friend is.”

“How?”

“I work for the organization that took her. We call ourselves The Syndicate.”

“The Syndicate?”

“Yes, and we have been observing you for quite a while. We have finally decided to invite you to join us.”

“Why would I want to join your stupid organization?”

“Well first, you get to be with your friend again. We will make sure she is your doll on missions. Second, you are protected from the police. Third, we will train you to be a professional hunter. And finally, we will pay you.”

Annie narrowed her eyes at the man, keeping the spike pointed at his neck for a minute, before stepping back and turning the topaz back into its original form. She kept it in her hand, just in case she decided to change her mind.

The man straightened his tie. “Do we have a deal?”

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

 

Reiner looked at his watch, sighing. “She’s late.”

He stood alone on the sidewalk across from the building he saw the target exiting, away from any lights. He could probably do it himself, but Annie was the better professional.

“You’re impatient,” a deep, modulated voice spoke from behind.

He peered over his shoulder, seeing his colleague, dressed in her outfit, complete with the silver lion mask.

“You may be right,” he said, chuckling, “we should get to work, before the police arrive.”

“You think their surveillance goes to this district?”

“Who knows?”

The contractor nodded, turning her head to look at the building. “Just a quick snatch?”

“Yup. I will be out here, keeping an eye out.”

“Affirmative. I am going in,” she said, pulling the cowl over her head before walking across the street. She opened the door and entered the building.

Silence fell upon the area around Reiner as his golden eyes looked everywhere, ready to call Annie just in case the target came back as she was inside, getting the doll.

After a minute, Reiner was leaning against a wall, staring at the building. “It shouldn’t take this long,” he muttered to himself. Everything was still quiet.

_Boom!_

He jumped, seeing a bright light flash from the windows as what sounded like an explosion emitted from the building.

“Lion!” He shouted into his earpiece as he ran across the street and entered the abandoned bar. He ran to the door behind in the back and burst through it before descending the stairs. He reached the basement floor and looked at the room.

Annie stood there, alone in the darkness, still as a statue.

“Annie?”

She slowly turned her body to face him, her mask’s black eyes staring at his. “We aren’t dealing with a doll.”

“What?”

“Reiner...we’re dealing with a moratorium.”

 

* * *

 

 

**_“I've been searching_ **

**_for the future forever_ **

**_Inside this light…”_ **

  


_ **Studio Ereannie** _

_ **Writer:** _

**Freelance7**

_ **Supervising Producers/Editors:** _

**Nakamatoo**

**Insomniatic Titan**

**Dorminchu**

**Ghastmine**

**Euregatto**

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: That was a long episode, but I loved writing it. I hope you guys love reading it. I am now in college so things will not be coming out as quickly as they used to, but I will keep on trying to do them. Thank you all for reading!


	4. The Story of the Soldier

**_11 Years Ago_ **

 

“Eren! Wake up! Breakfast!”

A sigh escaped from the young boy’s lips as his eyes opened to see his ceiling. He wrenched his pillow from beneath his head and chucked it at the door.

“Gimme a minute!”

“You have school in thirty minutes! Come down here now!”

He hated being a teenager sometimes.

Eren yawned and stretched before he rolled out of bed, hitting the ground. “Shit.” He pushed himself up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, as the door open suddenly, his foster sister Mikasa standing at the doorway. “Did you hear Mom?”

“Yes, I heard her!”

“Why are you yelling?”

“I’m not--” He stopped himself and reached up to rub his eyes. “Sorry. Can you just... leave me alone for just a sec? I really need to change. Unless you wanna stick around for the show--”

Mikasa made a face and closed the door.

Eren smirked. He quickly changed into a gray shirt with a plaid flannel jacket and jeans, putting his shoes on before grabbing his backpack and running down the steps. His converses clapped against the wooden stairs, reaching the bottom almost in an instant and entering the kitchen area, where his mother was serving his sister a plate of pancakes.

“It’s about time. I swear, you teenagers sleep the longest,” his mother, Karla, said, glancing at Mikasa, who held her hands up.

“I was up before you.”

“Barely.”

“A minute.”

“If you can keep that up, you’ll make a good mother.”

Mikasa huffed and began to dig into her breakfast. Karla smirked and slid Eren’s plate across the table to him as he sat down. “Thanks, mom.”

She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. He quickly tried to rub it off. “Mom!”

“Every growing boy needs a kiss by his mother.”

“Says who?”

“Says the mother.”

Mikasa gulped down her food. “You can’t really deny that, Eren. That’s a firsthand source.”

He chuckled and took a bite of his pancakes, reaching over to grab the syrup and pour it on his breakfast.

Karla reached out and grabbed it from him. “You don’t need more.”

“Mom!”

“No, too much good is bad for you.”

“Mom, I--” He stopped after seeing the determination in her eyes. He sighed, then finished up his food, pushing his plate a bit forward and placing his fork on it.

Eren got up from his seat, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. “You ready, Mika?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s get going.”

 

* * *

 

“You should’ve eaten faster.”

“You know I don’t do well under pressure. Besides, we can still make it to school if we just walk fast enough.”

“Or we can run, Eren.”

“True. How about we race there?”  

“Pfft, you know you’re gonna lose.”

“Says you.”

“Those are fighting words, Brother.”

“Are we gonna keep on talking, or get to racing?”

“Fine,” she said, stopping and getting into a runner’s position, “Ready?”

Eren smiled and mirrored his sister, nodding. “Yep.”

“One...two...three!” And they were off, with Mikasa taking the straight path, and Eren

taking a turn into an alley, hoping to find a shortcut.

He could see the exit, a thin slit of light, off on the other side. His speed increased as he got closer to his target. His pulse picked up, like he was on a hunt.

A figure stepped in his path, causing him to run into them, which pushed him onto a wall. He grunted in slight pain, looking up. “Hey, watch where you’re going!”

The figure had a hat, so he couldn’t see their face through the shadow and lighting.

But before he knew it, two glowing dots emitted from where the eyes would be.

Eren scrambled to his feet quickly, backing away from the person. “Uh...nevermind, it’s fine. My bad, I am a clumsy guy. Sorry.”

The glowing eyes disappeared, and the person turned to walk down the alley, leaving Eren alone.

He could feel his heartbeat slow down in his rib cage, calming down after seeing that strange person’s eyes.

He didn’t have much time to stand there in wonder. He had to get to school.

Pivoting on his heel, he continued on the way to school.

 

Mikasa sighed, leaning against a wall nearby the school. She looked at her phone. “I knew I would win, but he couldn’t be this bad at running, can he?”

Her eyes glanced up from her phone to finally see her brother running towards her. She pushed herself off the wall and stepped towards him. “I won again! What took you so long?”

That’s when she noticed he had a frightened look in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

He slowed to a stop. “Wh-what do you mean? I get it, I lost, okay? Can we just, you know, go to class?”

Mikasa frowned. “Something is wrong.”

“Can we just go?”

She took a step back. “Alright. Fine. Keep it in. Let’s just go.”

Eren nodded and took the lead, walking up the path to the entrance just as the bell rang.

 

* * *

 

**_2:30 PM_ **

 

Eren was once again at the lead as he and Mikasa returned home. She kept on trying to pry into his problems, but he just didn’t want to tell her. It was a strange experience that he didn’t want to talk about.

He could hear her steps quicken just to walk next to him. “Hey, Eren. Can you please just-”

_“No!”_ He whipped around and scowled at her. Her face was blank, which somehow calmed him down. “No...just...Mikasa, please stop asking. Everything is fine now. And I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”

Her eyebrows turned down, her eyes studying his body language. After a moment, she shrugged, sighed, and stepped past him. “Fine. Whatever.”

He watched her as she walked. “Good...thank you,” he said, running to catch up with her.

They were nearing home, where Eren could take a five hour nap. _Being a teenager is tiring,_ he thought to himself, stretching his arms out.

Finally, home was in sight, their beautiful, comfortable looking two-story house. Their shoes skidded against the sidewalk.

But Mikasa suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Eren noticed after a few steps. He looked over his shoulder at her.“Mikasa?”

Her eyes were wide, staring ahead at the house. He followed her line of sight.

To the open door. The _broken_ open door.

Eren’s eyes widened as he set off into a sprint towards his house. Mikasa ran after him. “Eren, wait!”

Her shout fell on deaf ears, as all of his mind was set on his mother. “Mom!” He shouted, dashing past the doorway and skidding to a halt at the scene before him.

_Blood._

It covered the walls, splattered about like it was an art piece. And lying there on the floor, propped up against the fridge, was his mother.

And cut into her abdomen was a large hole, blood and guts spilling everywhere.

Yet she was still breathing.

He got down on his knees in front of her. “Mom!”

Slowly, she lifted her head, her dark hair in a mess when it would usually be clean, tied in a loose ponytail. Her brown eyes met Eren’s green ones. He could see the pain in them. He whipped his head around to look at his sister.

“Mikasa, call an ambulanc-”

A hand grabbed his wrist. “No...no Eren.”

He looked back at his mother, eyes wide. “What…”

“I...am not gonna make it,” she croaked, giving a weak smile, “Just run. Save yourselves. He’s still here. Take this.” She held out her left hand, grasping the barrel of a handgun.

Eren began to feel tears sting his eyes as he looked from his mother’s face, to her wound, to the gun in her hand. “Wh-who? Who is still here?”

She opened her mouth to say something.

_Bang!_

Suddenly, half her face was blown off, sending brain matter and blood splattering everywhere. His body almost dove back. “Mom!” He and Mikasa shouted.

He looked in the direction of the blast, where a laugh was beginning to sound.

A man stood on the stairs, hands holding a smoking shotgun, his eyes glowing red and his body glowing blue before the color faded away. He pumped the gun, a spent shell flying out and clinking down the steps.

“Broad never knows when to shut up.”

“Bastard!” Mikasa cursed.

“Tisk, tisk, do you want to end up like yer mother there?”

Eren reached out and grabbed the handgun, aiming it at him from his position, sitting on the ground by his dismembered mother. _Those eyes,_ he thought to himself, _I remember those eyes!_

The man’s head turned back to Eren. “Now, now, kid. You’re too young to be playing with guns. You might shoot yer eye out.”

“Shutup!” He wrapped his finger around the trigger.

“Eren...Eren, put the gun down,” Mikasa ordered.

“No!” Eren began to stand up, stepping over so that he stood in front of Mikasa.

“You think you got balls kid? Go ahead. Pull the goddamn trigger.”

“I’ll do it!”

“Eren…”

“ _‘Eren’_ , is that all you can fucking say?”

“Say one more word and I’ll kill you!”

“Oh really? Do it.”

Mikasa began to breathe heavily. “Eren...don’t…”

“Eren, do,” the man taunted.

“Eren.”

“Eren.”

Eren let out a large roar before he began to pull the trigger, over and over again.

_“Die you bastard!”_

 

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

Eren held the gun in his hand, aiming it at the abandoned building where there was reported Contractor activity and an abnormal explosion.

He looked to his right to see Mikasa doing the same, as they stood on either side of their car, along with multiple officers, holding guns of different kinds.

“Remember boys, this may be BK-104. Orders are to terminate. Once he has been identified, empty your clips into him,” he commanded.

The street, illuminated by flashing police lights, was silent. Nothing came out of the building since they got here. They were hoping to end the chase here and now.

The anticipation was building. Their fingers getting itchy.

Suddenly, the door opened. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the culprit to show themselves.

A figure stepped out, wearing a cloak that covered their whole body. And their face was covered by the silver mask of a lion.

“That’s him! That’s BK-104! Fire!”

Before anyone could complete the order, a huge fireball expanded from behind them, consuming the Contractor in it’s burning globe.

Even then, they began to shoot.

Then, the ball disappeared.

And no one was there.

The Contractor vanished. They had lost him.

They lost BK-104 once again.

Eren let out a shout of rage before kicking the side of his car. “Dammit!”

Mikasa reached out over the hood of the car. “Eren, calm down.”

The agent holstered his weapon, pointing at his sister. “Don’t tell me to calm down! We lost him again! Levi will have our goddamn asses!”

“Well being angry about it will not help,” she said with a more serious tone.

“It’s helping me!”

“Eren…”

“What?” He snapped at her, venom dripping from his tone.

Mikasa frowned. “You need to learn to control your anger.”

Eren could do nothing more than glare at her, for only a moment or two.

He sighed and put his head in his hands. “Fuck...I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“Uh...sir?” An officer walked up to Eren, cocking an eyebrow. “What do you want us to do?”

Eren glanced at the man before placing his fists on his hips and looking around. He swiped his finger across the building where the scene took place. “Cover the area. Every inch. We will go in and check around.”

“Yes, sir,” the man said, walking off.

Eren nodded and looked at his sister. “Well...let’s take a look.”

Mikasa nodded and followed her brother as he stepped past all of the police cars, their blue and red lights allowing them to see in the dark night.

The door was left open, so they just walked in, pulling flashlights out of their jackets and clicking them on before swinging the cone of light that projected from it around the room, illuminating small objects like the chairs, and big objects like the bar and the pool tables. Eren walked past the bar and looked behind the corner, seeing nothing suspicious.

Then he turned to the door next to him.

He peered over his shoulder. “Mikasa, I’ll be in here.”

She nodded. “Got it.”

He nodded back and opened the door, seeing that it led to a set of stairs.

As if by instinct, he reached into his jacket and unholstered his gun, holding it at the ready while he began his descent into the unknown. Well, unknown to him at least.

Once he reached the bottom, he swung the flashlight around, seeing it was turned into a makeshift bedroom, with mattresses, blankets, and pillows scattered about. He let the light scan the floor a bit longer when he found something. Something odd.

_A huge burn mark in the center of the room. Like there was a large explosion._

“Mikasa!” He called for his sister, pulling the flashlight up at the ceiling.

_A broken light bulb._

His flashlight fell back to the floor.

_It was recent. The glass is still here._

“But why did BK-104 come here?”

Mikasa came down the steps. “Did you find something?”

Eren glanced at her face, lit up by the flashlight. “Look at the ground.”

She cocked an eyebrow before turning her head towards the burn mark. “An explosion?”

He shook his head. “It couldn’t be. Nothing has been blasted back. And there is no ash, so there couldn’t have been a fire.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I don’t know. It’s as much of a roadblock in my mind as it is in yours.”

Mikasa frowned, her feet taking small steps farther into the room. “It could be light based.”

“A light burn?”

“Remember the atomic bomb droppings? The people caught close to the blast had their shadows burnt into the wall. Thermal radiation goes in a straight line, like light, so it causes a shadow to be burned into the wall behind any objects. I think that is what happened here.”

“What makes you so sure?”

She shined her light on the center of the blast. “There is a burn circle that is blacker than the areas around it. It’s big enough for a child to fit in.”

“...Or a really small young woman.”

“The doll?”

“The doll,” he said, leaned forward to look closer at the burn, “Mikasa...that doll is special. It means something to BK-104 that he came here to take her back. But now...I don’t think the doll is a doll anymore.”

Mikasa raised her eyebrows before immediately turning them down. “You’re not suggesting…”

“The doll...it...it’s a moratorium now.”

 

* * *

 

****

**_“Imbue itself into the night_ **

**_with filthy fingertips_ **

**_And wrench you open_ **

**_until you're torn to shreds”_ **

**Chapter Four**

_**The Story of The Soldier** _

 

 

* * *

 

**_11 Years Ago_ **

 

_Click._

Eren’s wide green eyes looked at the gun, then at the man in front of him, unharmed by the firearm.

“You kid...you got a lot of balls, you know that?” He pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and stuck it between his lips before lighting it.

He walked over to Eren, towering over him. He pulled the cigarette out and blew smoke into the room. “I like you, kid. You got moxie. Now, I am going to leave. I did my job. Don’t wanna kill any other people right now. Call it...a good mood. So you got another shot at life.”

He took out a little capsule, opening it to place the cigarette in. He put it back in his pocket. “Make it count, kid.”

The man sneered before walking past Mikasa. “And you. Stay out of a business clearly meant for men. Wouldn’t want a pretty face like yours to get hurt, now do we?” He asked, reaching out to grab her chin, but she swatted it away.

He smirked. “So feisty. Alright. A man needs to learn his boundaries. I do.”

As he stepped past the threshold, he looked over his shoulder. “Maybe we will meet again, kid. I wouldn’t mind facing you when you’re older. Then I could kill you and feel good about it.”

He released a cruel, hoarse laugh. One of no remorse or guilt. He holstered his shotgun on his thigh and continued down the path to the street.

Eren stared at the doorway in awe of his inability to hit the man with a single bullet. But once reality snapped back to him, he scrambled to his feet and ran outside, eyes scanning the area for the bastard that murdered his mother, right hand still clutching the empty gun.

All of a sudden, Mikasa dashed out of the house, grabbing his hand and pulling him along. “We gotta get out of here.”

“We’re just gonna leave Mom’s body?”

“The police will find it. And if you have the gun on you, you will be first to blame. We have to get rid of it. We also have to wash you up. I got some clothes in my backpack while you were out there looking for him.”

“And what about coming back? We have to come back eventually.”

Silence from his sister.

“I will think of something.”

 

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

 

“Sir, I don’t think you should be blaming Eren. Or anyone, for that mat-”

“It doesn’t matter what you think, Miss Ackerman. Someone is going to have to take responsibility for this.” Levi stared at them, furious, his grey eyes shining in the artificial lights hanging from above.

“Then let it be me,” Mikasa stood up from her seat in front of their captain, who cocked an eyebrow at her.

Eren stood up. “No, sir, don’t blame her. Mikasa, stop defending me, I’m not thirteen anymore! Blame me, sir. I probably shouldn’t have been so hasty with the orders to kill.”

“Yeah? No shit, Sherlock. So, who’s it going to be?”

“Me!” Eren and Mikasa shouted at the same time.

Levi groaned and slammed his palms on the table. “You know what? Alright then, since you both insist on it so much, I’m going to have to put the blame on both of you.”

The brother and sister sighed, slumping back into their chairs.

Levi glanced at both of them, observing them both, before exhaling. “Ugh…fine...I can probably get them off my ass if you have a lead of some sort.” He glanced between them, his pupils switching from one to the other.

“Well? Do you?”

Eren gave a bad smile. “Kinda?”

Levi cocked an eyebrow. “Kinda?”

“We found a burn mark in the middle of the floor of the basement in the abandoned bar. It was the size of a small human. This doll we have been talking about? The one being protected by an assumed contractor against BK-104? We are afraid she may be a moratorium.”

Levi’s eyes flitted at Mikasa, wide in what looked to be an emotion not usually seen in the short man: fear.

“May? So there is a chance she might not be?”

“Sir-”

“ _Eren._ Do you realize how dangerous that makes this girl? If a doll has really turned into a moratorium, it’s only a matter of time before there begins to be a body count.”

Eren and Mikasa looked quite uneasy. It wasn’t a lie. They have had a moratorium in the city before, and at least fifty people had been killed before they were captured.

Levi glanced between them, frowning before he sighed and flung his hand to the side. “Just get some rest, the both of you. I will get the boys on it. You two be ready for a full manhunt. After tonight, we will not sleep until this moratorium is taken in. Got it?”

The two stood up, nodding their heads. “Yes, sir!” They said simultaneously before making their leave.

The door closing behind them, Levi sighed and leaned back in the chair. “We cannot afford to make the same mistakes.”

* * *

 

**_11 Years Ago_ **

“Give me the gun.”

Eren, now in a white t-shirt and khaki shorts, glanced at Mikasa’s hand, stretched out with an open palm, waiting for him to pass the weapon over. She seemed so calm about the whole situation, he was still confused, scared and sad. It wasn’t even an hour ago that he saw his mother get murdered in front of him. And now here he was, in the middle of a nearby forest, his old clothes burnt and his skin scrubbed clean of blood.

That only leaves the gun.

“Eren...Eren.”

The boy glanced up into his sister’s grey eyes. “Y-yeah?”

“The gun. We need to get rid of it. I dug the hole. Give me the gun so that I can bury it.”

“Why can’t we just throw it in the river?” He asked, his voice cracking.

“It would wash up somewhere eventually. Now give it to me.”

Eren’s puffy red eyes closed and he nodded, handing it over. Her fingers wrapped around it, pulling the weapon from his grasp and kneeling down to place it in the small hole she made.

She pushed the mounds of dirt on top of it, patting it all down, the last bit of evidence hidden away.

She stood up, her scarf blowing in the breeze, and peered over her shoulder at her brother. “We should be getting back. You ready?”

Eren, his eyes turned downward, looking at the leaves that have fallen, signifying that autumn was close. A season he won’t be able to enjoy anymore. His mother made it so special.

“Eren, look at me.”

He hesitated at first, but then turned his eyes up into his sister’s. “Yes?”

“Are you going to be okay?”

All of a sudden, an influx of words began to force themselves out of his mouth. “Am I going to be okay? To be honest, Mikasa, no. I don’t think I am. I mean why are you okay? Our mother is dead. How is father going to react to this? How are we gonna make it through life without our mother? I don’t I will be able to live without-”

Unexpectedly, something hit him with enough force to send a flash of searing hot pain spiking through his right cheek. It made him stumble, only to regain his footing and look up to see Mikasa, her hand held up, the back of it facing him, her eyes furious and tears rolling down from them as she grit her teeth.

“You...don’t know...how I feel. I...am trying to stay strong, Eren. For you and Grisha. But I am... _not_ okay. I am just as broken up inside as you are. So…” She lowered her hand, reaching up with her other one to wipe her eye dry, “Are you ready?”

Eren stood there, staring at her for a few slight minutes, still surprised at what she did.

He nodded his head. “Yeah...yes...I-I’m ready.”

Mikasa stared at him a second longer before she nodded. “Then let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

 

“Nah, Mikasa, I can drive myself home. Thanks, though.” The disgruntled agent muttered as he unlocked his car, opening the door before he looked at his sister, giving her a nod that she returned before stepping in and sitting down.

His eyes followed her car as she drove herself out of the parking complex that housed their cars when they were doing their job. When she was gone, he put his key into the ignition and turned it, starting the car up. His face, lit up by the dashboard, contained a dead look. He was tired. Already this thing was draining his energy.

_I wonder what else it will do to me,_ he thought to himself, grabbing the wheel and pushing his foot down on the pedal, driving out of the lot.

His mind was busy, but soon his senses picked up the radio.

“At 9:06, almost an hour ago, a huge explosion was heard in the lower district. When we arrived at the scene, we spoke to detective Eren Jaeger.”

The voice changed to one he remembered - his own. And he could still hear some anger in his voice from losing BK-104, “Currently, there is not enough evidence to identify this as a terrorist attack. When we get the proper proof, we will try our best to inform the public.”

“We also tried to talk to detective Mikasa Ackerman, but she didn’t give much info.”

“We will find out,” he heard his sister’s voice say. He gave a weak smile before reaching over to turn it off, leaving him in his silent car, waiting for the red light to turn green so he can get home.

 

* * *

 

_Flick,_ the lights flashed on, the man’s eyes looking as one of them wasn’t helping in the act of illuminating his apartment.

“I need to fix that someday.” He muttered, his gaze not leaving the broken light as he took off his jacket and hung it.

He sighed as he looked at the apartment. It looked expensive, but it was more of a present from the agency for his hard work in Section 4. He thought they might have been a bit too hasty to give it to him, but he wasn’t gonna complain.

Eren stretched his arms out, his feet taking him to the window, which gave a good view of the streets. The passing cars, hurrying home to their families.

He crossed his arms, green eyes searching the sidewalks. For someone that could possibly be _him_. That could possibly be BK-104.

“I will find you, 104,” he began, voice dripping with venom, “and bring you to justice.”

 

* * *

 

**_11 Years Ago_ **

The scene of a crime always becomes darker once the police arrive. You see the men in uniform, guarding the area from those who walk by or decide to stop and watch. They try to hide their disgust at the grisly display inside the household.

Then you see the men in the suits, faces hard as stone. They weren’t hiding anything. They expect this degree. They know. Because these aren’t just detectives. They’re agents.

The gleam of Eren Jaeger’s young eyes reflected these agents. He only thought of them as detectives.

“Remember the story, Eren, in case they ask.”

He side glanced at his sister, who returned the glance, expecting an answer.

“Yeah...yes.”

“Don’t start crying until they tell you mother died. They need to believe us.”

“O-okay.”

“Alright...let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

 

“What do you think, agent?”

“I think it’s a fucking mess, sir. Definitely the work of a contractor.”

“Has Hange arrived?”

“No. Four eyes is taking her time, as usual.”

“Has Mike checked the stars?”

“Yeah. There was some activity a few hours ago from VC-213,” his superior looked at him, eyebrows raised. The agent nodded. “Yeah... _he’s_ back.”

The short agent slipped on some latex gloves as he crouched down next to the corpse of a woman. “So...any info on the lady?” He asked, grabbing her chin with care to check both sides of her face.

The taller blonde haired man sighed and nodded. “Her name is Carla Jaeger. Wife to Grisha Jaeger. Two children, one adopted. Stay-at-home mom.”

“Any reasons why she would reach this poor fate?” He asked, wrinkling his nose as he checked her other wounds.

“None. She is an angel, according to the neighbors.”

“How about the husband? Maybe it was a...punishment for not paying a debt or...something?”

“The father is a scientist.”

“Maybe drugs? And something happened, so a contractor was hired to kill the wife, and scare the husband into doing whatever they want him to do.”

“Who’s ‘they’?”

“I don’t know, sir. But they are bad people. Definitely bad people.”

The agent stood up, dark sullen eyes staring down at the corpse. His head snapped over his shoulder as a voice shouted from outside.

“Mom?!”

The man’s eyes widened a bit. His feet carried him outside to see a young kid pushing against an officer. “Let me in!” He cried.

The agent walked over, patting the officer’s shoulder. “I’ll handle him.”

The officer cocked an eyebrow, glancing down at the boy, before nodding and stepping aside.

The kid ran into the agent’s hands, which gripped his arms. “Kid...kid...calm yourself. I need you to remain calm.”

“But my mom is in there! I need to see if she is okay! Mom!” The child cried, pushing against the agent.

“Listen, kid! Your mother is dead!” He shouted, letting his temper get the better of him.

The child stopped, falling silent as his wide eyes stared at the man, lips parted. Everyone around them also followed in his quietude.

“What?” His voice could only manage a whisper. His mouth turned up, nose following the same direction as his face took on a more fearful expression. “Dead?”

The agent’s eyes softened at the sight. He slumped his shoulders and gave a slow nod, exhaling. “I’m sorry, kid. I can’t have you enter. It’s a crime scene. Please step back.” He ordered.

The kid, a face now drained of color, turned his head down and walked back behind the police line. The agent could see him stop next to a young girl, looking around his age. _Must be the adopted one_ , he thought.

She leaned over and whispered to the boy.

 

* * *

 

“Good job,” Mikasa whispered into Eren’s ear, his reply a brief glance.

He wasn’t faking it. He wanted to believe that his mother was still alive as he tried to push his way through. And being told again that she was dead solidified his realization.

_His mother was dead._

“I’m gonna kill him.”

Mikasa cocked an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“That bastard...I’m going to kill him. Maybe not soon. But eventually...I will kill him.”

Mikasa didn’t need anymore to know who he was talking about. “Eren, I don’t think-”

“There is nothing you can say that will change my mind. _Nothing.”_

Both of her eyebrows raised at his sudden change of attitude. But soon after, she returned to her placid expression. “Alright...but I’m coming with you.” She said, looking him in the eye.

He returned the look, giving a nod. “Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

 

Eren’s eyes snapped open at the sound of a knocking at the door, disturbing him from his somewhat peaceful slumber.

And he knew who was at the door. But he wondered why she didn’t-

“Wake up, Eren.”

His upper body shot up, looking as his sister was at the doorway of his bedroom.

“How did you? How did I not-”

“Get ready. We are starting the hunt today, remember?”

Eren was about to ask again how she got in so silent, but then he shook his head and exhaled, nodding. “Right...right...can you leave? I need to get ready.”

 

* * *

 

A few minutes later, Eren walked out of the bedroom, reaching over to grab his jacket, glancing at Mikasa, who had her eyes on the broken light.

“I know, Mika. I will get it fixed eventually.”

“No...I was just...thinking…”

His eyebrow raised as he put his jacket on, checking his tie in a nearby mirror. “About?”

Her eyes lit up all of a sudden and she looked at him. “Hmm? Oh...nothing.”

Eren blinked, his mind trying to pinpoint what she was thinking of.

He came up short. She was always an enigma.

“Well, okay...shall we get going?”

Mikasa nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

“Okay, we can’t be too obvious about this. We have an APB out on a short blonde pale woman, so officers will have their eyes out. Jean, I want you to keep an eye on the stars, and we need constant communication from you. No dozing off! And you two,” Levi said, turning to the brother and sister, his eyes switched between them, “Go back to the scene where you found the burn mark. More clues will definitely help us. Am I clear?”

“Yes!” All three agents said, getting up from their seats and heading for the door.

“I will keep in contact with all three of you. Good luck!”

As they exited the room, Eren turned to see Annie sitting at the desk, rifling through folders, as if searching for something. He looked to Mikasa. “I will be down in a minute.”

He didn’t wait for an answer before walking over to the secretary. “Hey, Ann.”

The young woman had a folder opened as she turned her head up to see him. “Eren.”

The agent gave a shitty smile, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. “Ahh...I’m really sorry that we won’t be able to go out tonight. Who would’ve known that we would discover a moratorium? Hehe...yeah, sorry.”

Her eyes searched him, seeing true regret and unhappiness. She gave a slight shake of her head. “Don’t worry about it, Eren. We can always reschedule. Whenever you’re free. Let’s not talk now, you have something to do.”

Eren smiled. “Yeah, that sounds great. Uhm...I wanted to ask one more thing,” he began, reaching around to get a pen and post-it note. He wrote on it, glancing at her, “Can you send me pictures of your art?” He asked.

He put the pen down and slid the note to her. “There’s my phone number. You can do whatever you want with it. I’m not trying to force you to-”

“Okay. I will see if I can. Now go. We both have work to do.”

Eren nodded and gave a smirk before walking over to the elevator door, pressing the button and entering the small metal box. He gave a wink.

Then the doors closed, right as Levi walked out of the meeting room. He raised his eyebrows at Eren before looking at Annie, who glanced back as she got another folder out. “I will keep looking, sir.”

He stood there for a minute before nodding. “Alright. Good work, Leonhardt. I swear you’re the only one I can rely on.”

As he began to walk back to his office, Annie gave a simple, “Thank you, sir.” Before he entered his office and closed the door, leaving the small secretary to continue her search of files.

 

* * *

 

“There are more than last night,” Mikasa remarked, her grey eyes sweeping along the groups of news people lining the police lines.

Eren parked his car next to one of the vans, the vultures twisting to it and running over. He glanced over at his sister, who nodded. “Let’s just get in there.”

He nodded, pushing open the car door, slamming it closed as his hand lifted up to guard his face from the cameras. Millions of questions pelted him.

“What do you think the explosion was?”

“Do you think this is terrorism?”

“Do you have any leads?”

Eren gritted his teeth. _Why won’t these people just leave me alone?_ He thought to himself as he stepped up to the police line, pulling his badge out and showing it to the officer.

The man nodded, allowing the agent to pass by into the restricted area.

Eren tucked the badge back into his suit pocket, looking to his right to see Mikasa at his side. “How are you feeling?”

She glanced at him, her black hair glimmering in the sunlight. “Fine enough...worried. You?”

He grumbled. “Same.”

As they walked to the building, Eren looked out to the crowds, his eyes searching the mobs for people. _Would anyone return to the scene of a crime?_

His eyes soon met those of a tall woman, tan skin. Her face expressed many emotions. Anger, hatred, fear. He will have to keep a tab on her.

His hand reached out to grab the knob and open it for his sister, following her in and closing the door behind him. Several officers were around the room, searching every corner for some form of evidence.

“Any luck, fellas?” Eren asked as his feet carried him to the basement door. A few officers kept on searching, the rest looked over and shook their heads slow. The agent nodded. “Keep working.”

They made their way downstairs, seeing only one officer down here. “I thought they would’ve put more down here,” Mikasa remarked.

The officer shook his head. “Nope, just me.”

“Well did you find anything?”

“Not much from what you found, just bags of food and a mattress.”

Eren wrinkled his nose as he walked back to where the light bulb shards were, pulling out some latex gloves to put them on.

He crouched down next to them, reaching out to pick one up and hold it up to the light. “So...you think this doll-well...moratorium...you think her power is light?”

Mikasa put her hands on her hips. “Yeah...are you thinking the same thing I am?”

“She used light bulbs to send her specter?”

“Yeah.”

“That seems to be the most likely path. But...why did it shatter?”

“Her transformation?”

“Maybe...say, you think she could teleport?”

“With light?”

“I mean...the transformation from a doll to a moratorium has to be terrifying, so I doubt she just ran. What if the light could somehow teleport her?”

“I guess it could be possible.”

“We are working with contractors here, Mikasa. Possibility is thrown out the window.”

“True.”

Eren pulled out a bag, dropping the sharp into it before he took a few more to drop in.

Zipping it up, he gestured for the officer to come over to take the bag. “Send this to Armin Arlert in Section 4 for fingerprint examination. Tell him I bet there are two different sets of fingerprints on these shards.”

“Yes sir.” The young officer said before running out of the room.

 

* * *

 

**_3 Years Ago_ **

The brunet man patted down his blue uniform, smiling at himself. The light blue stars on his shoulder straps symbolized that he was a recruit. Two and a half years he spent in the academy, along with his sister Mikasa, training to be Germany’s finest. While it was really just being a patrol officer, it was still a step towards his objective.

His objective to finding the man that murdered his mother.

And today might just be his lucky break.

The streets were bustling, people running hither and thither, trying to get to their next destination in as quick a time as possible. It was chaotic. It was insane. It was life.

And Eren’s was about to change.

His eyes scanned the crowds, searching for any disturbances. Any troubles.

Families buying gifts and groceries. Couples sitting together, holding each other in embrace. Dogs being walked by their owners.

_**Nothing so far.** _

His head swung around, seeing the same things. Nothing peculiar. _Which is good,_ he thought to himself.

“Anything?” His radio crackled to life, a feminine voice coming through.

He pressed the button. “No, Mikasa. It’s all clear on this end. How about you?”

Putting his finger off the button, he waited, watching the citizens walking by.

“Everything is the same on this side as well.”

“Alright...well...keep an eye out.”

“Affirmative. Out.”

The radio went silent. He continued watching the crowd.

He stopped when his eyes met those of a young man, looking to be around Eren’s age, with a muscular build and blonde hair. The man quickly turned away as soon as their eyes locked.

_Suspicious,_ Eren narrowed his eyelids and began to make his way to the man’s position. He kept his sight on the man, getting closer.

Soon, however, the man turned his head back to see the officer coming closer, and in an instant set off in a fast walk.

Eren’s eyes lit up as he picked up his pace. “Excuse me, sir! Halt!” He began to run towards him.

In turn, the man glanced over his shoulder, eyes widening before going into a sprint.

Eren pressed the button on the radio. “Mikasa! I got a runner heading towards your direction!”

“Got it!”

He let go of the radio and focused on the man he was after. “Stop!”

People were dodging and getting out of the way, watching the chase with excited eyes.

“I said stop!” Eren shouted, pulling out his gun and aiming it at the man.

“Stop right there!” He heard Mikasa say as he saw her step up in front of the runner, her gun pointed at him.

The man skidded to a halt, holding his hands up. Mikasa held a hand out, gun still aimed. She grabbed his shoulder to turn him around, holstering her gun as she pulled his arms down, cuffing him and reading him his rights. He was smirking.

Eren had his sights still on him, ready to shoot if things got bad.

And they did, very quick.

Eren noticed the man’s eyes suddenly glowing red. And his body glowing blue.

_Where did I see that?_

His eyelids shot wide open as he was able to drop to the floor and cover his head right as a burst of flames flew over his head. He could hear the screams of the people around, seeing this inhuman ability right before their eyes.

Eren watched as the man turned around, Mikasa being able to twist away from him as more flames ejected from his mouth, hitting his sister in the back, setting her uniform on fire. He looked to his right, his hand shooting out to grab his gun and lift it up to aim.

But the man was gone.

Mikasa grunted as she pulled her uniform off, now in her white shirt, and threw it to the ground, stamping out the flames. When they were out, she sat down and sighed.

The sounds of police sirens hit their ears as they looked at each other. Their eyes communicated.

_Was that what I thought it was?_ They both signaled.

 

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

Eren rested his cheek on his fist as he gazed out the window.

“Eren…”

He didn’t look, just kept on staring out at the people on the sidewalk. “What?”

“Are you okay?”

He sighed, sitting up and cracking his neck. “No...we barely have any leads. Those prints on the light bulb are the only leads we got...and that, hah- that ain’t much to go on.”

Mikasa pursed her lips. “I think we can find out something useful from them. We don’t know these girls’ names, so maybe...maybe they are in the database?”

“And if they aren’t?”

Silence followed the question, with no answer from his sister. He looked at her, her eyes glancing around for the answers.

“I...I...then we just go back to square one...we will get to the bottom of this, Eren.”

“Well...I hope so.”

With that, he went back to looking out the window, only thinking about one thing.

The fingerprints of the two girls.

 

* * *

 

**_3 Years Ago_ **

Eren frowned at the man who arrived after the fire breathing man had made his escape and the police had blocked the area off. He had been talking to too many officers who questioned him of the scene, and they haven’t told him anything.

The man walked up to him. “Agent Levi Ackerman of Section 4, you are Officer Eren Jaeger, correct?”

He nodded, face turned to the floor. “Uh...yeah, yeah I am.”

Levi cocked an eyebrow at him. “Jaeger...your father is Grisha, right?”

Eren looked up at the agent, eyes wide. “Yeah...oh, you’re him...I remember you.”

“You’re an officer now? Hm...so what did you see here?”

Eren sighed. This is the fourth time he had to recount the event.

“I chased after a man. When we surrounded him, his eyes glowed red and he blew fire from his mouth.”

Levi nodded, taking out a notepad and writing it down.

Eren narrowed his eyes. “May I ask something, sir?”

The agent glanced up at him. “Shoot.”

He leaned forward a bit, biting his thumbnail. “Is...is this the same kind of person that...that killed my mother?”

The man was silent for a moment. “How did you…?”

“Know? I got home when my mother was murdered. Her head blown off right in front of me,” he held his head in his hands, sighing, “I...I saw the man who did it. His eyes were glowing red...just like the man here. I picked up the gun in my mom’s hand and shot him, but none of the bullets hit him. Then he left. We ran away and came back before the police came. I guess I should’ve told you at the beginning, but we thought you would have pinned the death on me. So...is it?”

Levi frowned at him. “So you lied to us? Your information could’ve helped that case.”

“I was a kid, okay? I was scared.”

A silence grew between them, with Levi soaking in everything he just heard. He put his hands on his hips and exhaled. “Yes.”

Eren raised his eyebrows. “Yes?”

“Yeah...we call them Contractors. That is all I can really say out here. If you want to know more, go to the station tomorrow and ask for Section 4. They will point you to the elevator and tell you to go to floor 28. Then ask for me.”

Eren, confused that this guy was willing to tell him so much, nodded.

Levi nodded. “Now go get some rest. Hope to see you tomorrow. Bring your sister along as well.”

Eren nodded again. “Yeah...I will...thank you.”

Levi sighed before walking away. “See ya, kid.”

Eren watched him, giving a little wave. “See ya…”

As Levi began to investigate the area, his mind began to wander. _With Hange resigning, and Mike quitting, I’ll be taking over...and I’ll be needing new agents. Those two might be good choices for the job._

 

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

“So, Armin...what do we got? Anything good? Lead-worthy?” Eren asked, sitting down on one of the stools while Mikasa leaned on the counter.

The analyst tapped two folders on the counter. “We got two matches.”

Eren took the one on the right, sliding it over to him and opening it while Mikasa took the

other and leaned against the counter, reading it.

Armin continued, “Ymir Tanzen and Historia Reiss. The first hasn’t been seen since 2003, when the gates began appearing. The other...she hasn’t been seen since practically the same year. January 3rd, 2004.”

Eren puckered his lips. “So...these match up pretty well with our Contractor and Moratorium?”

“Yeah...but Ymir was fifteen when she disappeared, and Historia...Historia was six.”

Mikasa cocked an eyebrow. “You’re telling me she became a doll at the age of six?”

“Sadly, yes. Someone kidnapped her. Probably planned to use her surveillance abilities when she honed them. I guess this Ymir rescued her, and whoever kept Historia beforehand sent a Contractor, BK-104, after them.”

“To kill...or to return?” The brother asked, closing the folder.

“I don’t know...but this is a definite good lead. How do you two plan to act upon it?”

Eren stroked his chin. He glanced at Mikasa, putting the closed folder down. “Hey, pass me that folder.”

Mikasa nodded and slid it over. He picked it up and read it, seeing the picture of the girl. “So this is Ymir?”

“Yeah.”

Eren narrowed his eyes. “She...looks familiar.”

Silence fell upon the room as his mind processed the face. Freckles, tan, brown hair.

His eyes widened. “I saw her at the crime scene. That’s her!”

The other two raised their eyebrows, with Armin speaking, “You sure, Eren? She was fifteen in that picture.”

Eren stood up, smiling as he pulled the picture out. “Yes, definitely! It has got to be! I gotta get an APB on this! I am going down to floor one!” He shouted as he ran out of the room, speeding past an almost bewildered looking Annie, who didn’t question him as he got into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor.

Armin and Mikasa followed him out just to see the elevator doors closing, with the agent having a big grin on his face.

Levi came out just as the elevator began to descend. He thought he knew a pretty good reason why Eren was so excited, but he looked at everyone else. “What happened?”

 

* * *

 

**_Three Years Ago_ **

 

Eren felt awkward as he walked into Section 4, where a short, ginger haired woman sat at the desk, glancing up to see him and his sister entering. She gave a wide smile, bright enough to light up an entire room. And her voice was just as kind. “Welcome to Section 4. Is there something you two needed?”

The brother patted his suit down before nodding. “Uh...yeah. We are here to talk to an agent...Levi.”

The secretary’s amber-colored eyes widened. “Oh? Well, he is talking to the Captain right now, so-”

At that time, the agent and a taller brunette woman walked out to the waiting room, with the former stopping to see the siblings. He sighed, turning to the woman. “Hange...would you mind if I decided to test out my new office with these two?”

The woman glanced at the two before looking back at him. “Sure, I don’t mind. Are these the new-”

“Yes, they are. Thank you, Hange. I will meet you later.”

Hange smiled and nodded. “Alright, Levi. See you then.”

Once the taller woman left, he faced the two officers. “Okay, you two, this way please.” He gestured for them to follow as he turned around and walked back down the hall. “Petra! If I get any calls, tell them to leave a message!”

“You got it, sir!”

Levi led them into an office, whose shelves have been emptied of any mementos, pictures or awards. He pointed to the two seats in front of the desk and sat down behind it. He began speaking before they even sat down. “So as I told you, Eren, your mother was killed by a Contractor. These are things they don’t teach you in the academy. You have to learn it. Civilians who find out are sent to the M.E., or Memory Extractor.”

Mikasa cocked an eyebrow. “Contractors?”

Levi frowned at Eren. “You didn’t tell her?”

Eren shrugged. “I thought it would be better if we both learned together.”

The soon-to-be captain sighed, nodding. “Okay. Well this may be long, but I will try my best to make it as short as possible. Contractors are individuals who used to be human, but after the appearance of the Gates, gained superhuman powers. Every contractor has their own unique power. The one you saw out there had the power of fire. You saw that their eyes glow red and their body glows blue. That is called Lancelnoptchrotron radiation.”

“Lancelotno-what?”

“Lancelnoptchrotron. Don’t worry about that. The thing about Contractors, and thus the thing that gives them their names, is that they need to do something every time they use their power. It’s called an obeisance, but you can just call it the contract. That is also unique. Another thing is that they can’t seem to feel emotions, or they can, they just don’t want to. They are able to fake their personalities. Are you still following?”

The two officers nodded.

“Alright, good, because things might get a bit confusing here. It turns out that those who don’t turn into Contractors are dolls...well it’s the other way around. If you don’t become a doll, you become a Contractor. It’s a defect. Dolls are mediums that can mimic the emotions of other humans. Really good for infiltration. In addition to that, they have a surveillance power that is limited by their medium. It could be water, or glass, or so forth. They also are completely emotionless, and I don’t mean that they can but don’t want to. The ones I have met have been almost unable to be taken as actual humans. They are generally harmless.

He took a deep breath. “Now...there is a way for dolls to become contractors, and the result is very dangerous. They are called Moratoria. They are the intermediate. They don’t have a ‘contract’ like Contractors, but unlike them, they have no control of their powers. Their eyes also don’t glow red, same with their bodies, they don’t glow blue. While not using their powers, they have a normal emotions. Like I said, they are very dangerous.”

He leaned back in his seat and sighed. “That’s all there is. You two are the only officers that know this much.”

Eren frowned. “Wait...why are you telling us all this then?”

Levi crossed his arms and smirked. “I am out two agents...and I want those two to be you.”

Eren’s eyebrows shot up as he looked at Mikasa, whose lips were parted. He turned back to Levi. “Really? Are-are you sure?”

Levi nodded. “Yes. I want you two to start tomorrow. Gets suits, both of you. No pencil skirts. You both need to be able to run. Am I understood?”

The two siblings stood up and nodded. “Yes sir!” They both said.

“Good. Now go home. Rest. We have a big case to start on tomorrow.”

“Yes sir!”

And with that, they left, leaving behind their old lives for new ones.

Levi looked up at the ceiling. “I hope I made the right decision.”

 

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

 

Eren never realized how tantalizing it was to wait in an elevator. _Come on, come on, come on!_ He shouted in his head, waiting for the elevator to ding, the picture of the girl in hand.

He tapped his foot.

Bit his lip.

Cracked his knuckles.

Released a very loud sigh.

Whistled a long tune.

After a while, he grunted. _“Why is this building so tall?”_

Then, the doors opened. He smiled and walked out, looking around, he saw the whole place buzzing due to the explosion from last night. He had to dodge out of the way of multiple people before getting a good path towards where he needed to be.

When someone stepped in his way.

“Agent Eren?”

The agent skidded to a halt, having to tilt his head up to look up at the person. When he saw their face, he took a step back, eyes wide. His hand reached for his gun.

“You…”

Another hand grabbed his, stopping it. “Let’s not cause a scene, yes?”

Eren narrowed his eyes as he lowered his hand. “Why are you here?”

“Can we talk in a more private place?”

He wrinkled his nose. “Yeah...in the elevator.”

“Take me there.”

Eren pushed his jaw to one side in annoyance as he led the person to the elevator, pressing the button. When the doors opened, he slipped in, with them following behind.

He pressed the button that would take them to Section 4.

The machinery hummed as the metal box was hoisted up. He turned to face the person. “Why are you here...Ymir, is it?”

The tall, tan and freckled woman didn’t smirk, keeping her face blank, she stared at the agent with her golden eyes. “I need your help.”

 

* * *

 

**_6 Months Ago_ **

 

The building was going to be a new hospital, made to save more people and improve the health of Sina. But right now, it was empty. Just walls, floors, roofs, and doorways.

This specific room, a long hallway that has rooms where the patients will be, seemed to have the most acoustics out of all of the other halls.

This made it easier to hear the sounds of people running down its halls, as it echoed and bounced off the walls. Why were these people running?

“Try to flank him! I will follow him through here!” A young male voice said.

“Got it!” A female one said.

All of a sudden, a cloaked figure sprinted down a hall.

Soon, a young man in a suit, an agent by the looks of it, entered the same hallway, gun in hand. “Stop!”

The figure soon enough halted its progress. Not because of the agent’s command, but because they reached a dead end. Nothing but walls and a doorway to their left, but that would only lead to a patient’s room.

Eren aimed his gun, walking up to the mysterious person. “Turn around, slowly.”

The figure had nowhere else to go. They did what they were told, and turned to face the agent.

Through the windows, one could see the moonlight shine off of their silver lion mask.

 

* * *

 

_**“Always, always, by my side,** _

_**I felt the power that I believe in** _

_**Is moving distant and fragile things”** _

__

**_Studio Ereannie_ **

  


**Writer:**

**_Freelance7_ **

****

**Supervising Producers:**

**_Nakamatoo_ **

**_Insomniatic Titan_ **

**_Dorminchu_ **

**_Ghastmine_ **

**_Euregatto_ **

**_Titan-Wolfdog_ **

**_Nanisketches_**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it’s took so long! College and stuff. Anyway, please please please leave comments! I need it! It really helps me when I am writing. I hope you enjoyed this episode! See you next time!
> 
>  
> 
> Also, a very happy birthday to my friend Nakamatoo. I probably wouldn’t be here today without his support. I swear he is a god damn cheerleader. He’s turning 21. Don’t get too drunk!


	5. The Goddess Awakens

“What do you think?” 

“I think she’s quite a spectacle.”

“Indeed. So much of a spectacle that I don’t believe we can just leave her here without some form of appreciation, if you catch my drift?” The brunet boy smirked as he looked down at the blonde girl’s unconscious body. 

“Sounds like a great idea to me,” the blonde one said, crouching next to her, he glanced at his friend, a sly grin gracing his face, “Who first?” 

“Wanna flip a coin on it?” The other suggested, pulling out a fifty euro cent coin from his pocket. 

“Sure, why not? This bitch ain’t going anywhere soon.” 

“Alright, heads or tails?” 

“Heads.” 

He nodded before flipping the coin, watching it flip, twist, and turn in the air. It reached its maximum height before it began to drop. 

_ Bang! _

The boys jumped back as the coin was suddenly propelled off into the far distance by a bullet. Their eyes were wide in shock, when a voice wrenched them back into reality. 

“You two will both be getting a little present  _ on the inside _ if you touch that girl. A hot one, made of lead. So run off before I decide to gift you early.” 

They looked towards the source to see an elderly man, who was probably bald under the green newsboy cap he was wearing, along with his flannel jacket and jeans. In his hands he held a Rottweil 12/70 over and under rifle, with smoke rising from one of the barrels. 

The boys, staring at the gun in fear, held their hands up and ran away, leaving the girl on the ground. One of them looked over his shoulder. “We’ll be back, old man!” 

He chuckled. “I bet.”

The man adjusted his cap before walking over to the girl, crouching down and dropping his gun so that he could wake up the girl by turning her onto her back and shaking her carefully. “Hey, you awake?” He asked as he got to have a closer look at her.

She was small, with blonde hair splayed about the floor. Her lips were muttering something he couldn’t comprehend. 

What the man found strange was that her clothing was burnt, with many holes in it, revealing the soft supple flesh beneath. 

“What happened to you?” He muttered to himself. 

 

* * *

 

**_“And its peeling emotions will creak in a shallow sleep_ **

 

**_If it can erase just about everything entirely right now”_ **

* * *

 

**Episode Five**

**_The Goddess Awakens_ **

* * *

 

Typing away at the keys, Annie’s eyes darted up at the elevator doors from time to time 

after the agent had left.  _ The sooner Eren finds the moratorium, the sooner I can finish this mission.  _

She looked down at the number he gave her, halting her typing to pick it up.  _ Should I? He said he didn’t want to force me into anything, but I feel like...no...I shouldn’t. I need him to find the target, not to critique on my artwork. He isn’t getting to me. He isn’t.  _

Annie put the number down.  _ Maybe...I can send him something tomorrow. _ She continued to type, pushing Eren out of her mind so that she can focus on the first place to search for the former doll.

All of a sudden, the elevator doors opened, and Eren exited it, pulling someone along. A tall, tan woman. She looked familiar...

_ Ymir. _

Annie’s eyes lit up at the sight of her.  _ Why is she here? Wasn’t he about to put an APB on her? _

The woman glanced at her, giving a subtle nod in her direction, before following Eren down a hallway and into the interrogation room. 

Annie quickly took the phone off the receiver and called up Levi. Even if she was a contractor, she could feel panic rising up her throat. This was definitely one thing she did not expect.

“Pick up, pick up, pick up,” she mumbled, listening to the phone ringing.

Suddenly, it stopped, with the deep voice of the captain coming through. 

“Ackerman. What is it?” 

“Agent Jaeger brought in the Contractor.” 

Only silence came from the other end. To the woman, it felt like an eternity. 

“Excuse me?” 

“Ymir. The contractor that BK-104 is after, along with the moratorium. The one he was about to put a search on for her? She is in the interrogation room with him.”

More silence. 

“I am coming out.”

Instantly, he hung up, his office door opening, a short man quickly walking out, nodding to her as he sped past her desk, and over to the interrogation observation room.

He opened the door, glanced at Annie, and entered, closing it behind him. 

Annie took a deep breath, calming herself down.

_ Don’t panic,  _ she thought to herself.

_ Contractors don’t panic.  _

_ Leonhardts don’t panic. _

* * *

 

**_Eight Years Ago_ **

 

The rain-slicked alleys of Rose shined in the moonlight, giving a wondrous spectacle to the stars above. 

If only it was a peaceful night. 

A door burst open, allowing more light to reflect off of the ground. But it was blocked by the shadow of a man falling to the ground, scrambling to get back up to his feet and run off. 

“Stay away!” He shouted, looking over his shoulder to see a short girl, not much older than seventeen, stepping out into the alleys with him. A white hoodie over her head to cast a shadow across her face.

What terrified him the most was her gait. 

She wasn’t going fast. She was taking her time. 

He looked ahead to hop over a trashcan laid in front of his path, slipping as he landed, but quickly he regained his footing to continue his escape. 

“Please, stop! I don’t want to di-” 

His sentence was cut off by the penetration of a sharp object through his spine. Suddenly, he couldn’t feel his legs, and soon was sent to the ground, his face scraping the floor, earning a grunt from him. 

He could hear her coming closer, her steps echoing nearer and nearer to his ear. 

“I cut off your lumbar spinal cord, between the L2 and L3 vertebrae, with a piece of quartz. Your legs are paralyzed. There may also be a loss of bladder, bowels and sexual dysfunction.”

She walked around to his front, where his arms were splayed out. Lifting her foot, she lowered it on his hand. He cried out in pain as she crouched down, putting more weight on his hand. Her head tilted to see his face.

“Where’s the flash drive?” 

The man spoke between grunts. “It’s...you’ll never get it. The building...it’s heavily secured.”

She raised her foot just to bring it back down on his hand. Another yelp of pain. “That wasn’t the answer to my question.” 

The guy grunted. “Ah! Alright, alright, stop!”

The young woman lifted her foot off of his hand. “Speak.” 

“The hard drive is...on the twenty-eighth floor...in my office, there is a safe behind a painting.  _ Dora Maar au Chat _ , by Picasso. The code to the safe is 1941.”

She nodded, promptly taking out a shard of topaz and thrusting it downward into his head, penetrating his skull and brain before he could even whimper. 

Pulling the crystals out, she tucked them into the pockets of her jacket before reaching up to her ear to press a button. “Information acquired. I know the location of the flash drive.”

A deep voice came in through the other end, “Excellent. You are doing well for your first solo mission, Leonhardt. Make sure you keep it up. Don’t want to have to regret not sending someone to watch you.”

She ignored the last statement. “Mina. How is she? When can I see her?” This was the four hundred and sixty first time she has asked this question, literally asking it every day she was a part of this organization. And not once has she been able to see her. 

“She is doing fine. It won’t be long now. Still needs some training before we can send her out into the field with a contractor.”

“You mean with me. Right?” 

“Of course...of course.” 

“Good.”

“Now, you have a flash drive to get. I will be expecting it by, at the very most, tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.” 

She took her fingers off the button, glancing over her shoulder at the body behind her, looking away to observe her environment. 

It was empty. 

She could let the body stay where it was. For the police to find.

With that, Leonhardt walked away, not looking back. 

Only looking forward.

* * *

 

The town looked so beautiful from high above. One could find pleasure in seeing all the little lights shining among the darkened windows, and imagining what could be happening in the rooms that they show to the world. 

This was all Annie could see as she stood on a twenty-five story apartment building that stood across the street from the ExoTrans building. The name meant nothing, probably a board meeting where someone said “This would be a cool name.” And the others agreed. 

But she was on the roof of this apartment complex. Her eyes were staring through the windows of the twenty-sixth story. 

She turned around to look down at what looked to be a gun case for a sniper rifle. She crouched in front of it, putting black leather gloves on and opened it, revealing parts to a harpoon gun. 

With care, she put it together, making sure everything was ready.

Sighing, she stood up to check herself. Bulletproof black cloak, knives, crystals in capsules, and a container for the flash drive. 

She noted to herself that she needed to ask for some sort of mask, because she has to kill anyone who has seen her face. She wanted something to strike fear in her enemies, make them stare into her eyes and realize that what they are locking gazes with is a predator. 

Pushing her jaw to the side in thought, she shook her head and reached down to pick up the harpoon gun, turning the crank on the side several times.

Annie knelt down, taking a deep breath as she raised the gun, aiming it at the twenty-eighth floor.

She pulled the trigger, the harpoon ejecting from its device, flying through the air before piercing the glass of one of the windows. 

Annie couldn’t see if it stuck itself somewhere, so she gave it a few pulls to make sure it was safe. 

Taking another breath, she gripped the barrel tighter, took a few steps back, then ran and jumped off the roof of the apartment building, swinging as if from a vine, before slamming into the wall with a grunt. 

She held on, even though she was sure she broke a rib or two. But no matter, the mission is still priority. 

Pressing a button on the gun, she was suddenly pulled upwards as the harpoon gun collected the wire between it and the harpoon. 

As Annie approached the twenty-eighth floor, she pulled the cowl of her cloak over her head, hiding her identity. 

She climbed up through the broken window, breaking off any jagged pieces that were threatening her, her feet grounding themselves on the twenty-eighth floor.

Her eyes scanned the room she was in, to end up as not only the witness to a murder scene, but the murderer as well. 

Stuck to the wall, with blood leaking from their wound, was what looked to be a young man, probably someone who worked here. He was still breathing, though it was very hollow. He wasn’t gonna make it long.

His eyes, wide in surprise, glanced at her, his breathing picking up as he sees his attacker. 

She lifted a finger to her lips, slowly walking over as she reached into her cloak, unsheathing her knife. “It is truly a shame that this fate has fallen over you.”

She remained silent before grabbing his shoulder and thrusting the knife upward, through his jaw, up into his brain, penetrating it to end his life quick. 

Pulling it from his lifeless corpse, she put the blade between her two fingers, wiping the blood off. 

Sheathing it, she looked down the hall.

“Strange,” she told herself, “no alarm. Maybe too cheap to get one? This is almost the highest floor.” 

She shrugged and continued on, walking past the offices, looking through the windows to see what paintings they had on the wall. 

The fifth one she passed had what she was looking for.  _ Dora Maar au Chat.  _

“By Picasso,” she added, taking out her crystal to place in front of the lock. Her eyes turned red as the crystal elongated and entered the keyhole, lifting the tumblers to allow the door to unlock with a  _ click.  _

Putting the crystal back in its capsule, she opened the door, turned on the lights, and walked to the painting, observing it. 

“Pretty messed up, if you ask me. This is art?” 

But it was strange, the more she looked at it, the more she liked it. 

“Maybe it is pretty good,” she reached up and took it off the wall, laying it down.

The safe was pretty basic, just a keypad. 

“Nineteen...forty-one,” she said as she typed in the code, grabbing the handle and opening it wide to reveal its secrets. 

A small usb drive. 

Nodding to herself, she grabbed it and took out the container, placing it in the small square-shaped hole and closing it up, putting it back in her cloak. 

She didn’t bother to close up the safe, and took a step back, glancing at the painting.

“My apartment could use some decoration,” she grabbed it, holding it under her arm. She had been beginning to find an interest in painting. Maybe this could help her start?

As she walked back out into the hallway, she halted in her tracks as suddenly a line of guards appeared in front of her, armed with machine guns, blocking her from her exit. 

_ That’s why they have no alarm,  _ she thought to herself,  _ they like to catch their intruders by surprise. _

And standing in front of them, his hands behind his back, was a round man, smiling wide as he examined the woman in front of him. 

“Well, hello there,” his voice was condescending, as he felt big in the presence of a small lady, “You have something that belongs to me.”

Annie sighed as she threw the painting down, “Didn’t think Picasso was that well loved here.” 

The man’s smile somehow widened more as he shook his head, reaching down to pick up the painting. “I am more of a Van Gogh man myself. I couldn’t give less of a  _ shit _ ,” he shoved his fist through the painting, “about Picasso.” 

Annie didn’t flinch as he destroyed the beautiful piece of art. He threw it down to the ground, his smile suddenly gone, replaced with a thin line cutting between his lips. “Pull down the hood and give me the drive.” 

“Why would I do both of those things?” 

“I want to see your face as I fail your mission personally.”

“Hm...well, if you insist, though I should warn you…”

She pulled down her hood, blue eyes piercing through his. “I can’t let you live after this.” 

The man gave a soft dry laugh, walking up to her. “You’re funny. Was that meant to be a threat? Now give me the drive. You look way too young to be doing this kind of work.” 

“Alright. I’ll give you the drive. On one condition.” 

He got close to her, his breath stinking of bourbon. “And what is that?” 

She opened one of the crystal capsules. “Your life.” Her eyes glowed red as the crystal flew out, piercing the man in the testicles and making him double over in pain.

This allowed her to grab the sides of his head and thrust her knee upwards into his face, breaking his nose and sending blood flying onto the walls. She opened the rest of her capsules and rolled over his back, eyes glowing red again as she shot the crystals out at the guards, killing three of them and leaving two left. 

They opened fire on her, but she was too quick, reaching the first one in a matter of milliseconds, fast enough to push his barrel up while he was still shooting, and doing so shooting himself, blood and brain matter painting the ceiling. 

She looked over at the last one left.

The last one’s eyes were wide in fear from the scene he just witnessed. He dropped his gun and began to dash. Annie hissed and threw one last crystal at the man she castrated, killing him, before sprinting after the guard. 

Pulling her hood back down, she caught up with the guard, grabbing the harpoon gun, jumping and kicking him through the broken window as he approached it, sending them both through and toward the ground, ready to meet them. But as the guard continued falling, Annie’s descent was stopped by the harpoon, letting her hang. 

The guard, on the other hand, hit the ground hard, sending blood splattering all around as his body couldn’t take the impact. 

Annie watched the display of gore with bored eyes, pushing a button on the gun to allow her to descend to the ground, her feet eventually greeting it.

Sirens in the distance made their way to her ears, causing her to run to the nearest alleyway and hide, her fingers reaching up to press a button on her earset. 

“Leonhardt, reporting. The flash drive is in its container. Where is my contact?” 

“Ahh, right on time. They should be arriving at your motel room by the time the sun rises. After that, you come back here for your next assignment. And, Leonhardt?” 

She narrowed her eyes. “What?” 

“Good work.” 

“Thank you, sir.” 

With that, she took off her cloak and weaponry, laying it down on the ground in the corner and placing a beacon on it for the collectors to find. Then she put the container with the flash drive in her hoodie pocket and continued on. 

Her head turned up in thought.  _ Leonhardt.  _

_ Lion Heart.  _

_ Maybe a lion mask would work? _

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

 

A slight jolt, eyes shooting open, and an intake of breath signified the return of complete consciousness to the mind of Historia Reiss since before the appearance of the gates. 

The last thing she remembered was that lion-masked figure, reaching out to her before they jumped backwards. Then a flash of white. 

Now here she is. She realized that she was curled up in the fetal position on a bed, soft hands open wide in front of her face. 

She lifted her head. A blanket was on top of her, covering her body from the cold air. Her eyes fell back down to her fingers.

She clenched them tight, feeling skin against skin. But not the skin she wanted to touch. 

A picture appeared in her mind, a tan woman with brown hair, freckles sprinkled across her cheeks. A devilish smile that seemed irresistible. 

_ Ymir.  _

Her eyes widened, her body shot up, head turning around to look for her friend. Her best friend. 

But all she could see is the room she was in. 

A piece of paper caught her attention, on the bedside table. She cautiously reached over and picked it up. 

It read:

 

_ I found you lying in the forest unconscious with burnt clothing _

_ There are clothes next to you. Please change. _

_ I am making food in the next room. Come out once you are ready. _

 

She looked to her right to see a clean pair of clothing. A blouse and some jeans. Nothing special, but compared to what she was wearing, it was a little less...burnt. 

She quickly took off her clothes and slipped on the new ones, which fit surprisingly well. With herself now fully clothed, she hopped out of bed and slowly walked over to the only door in the room, her feet padding against the wooden surface of the floor. 

The small woman approached the door, hand cautiously creeping toward it. Her fingers wrapped around the door knob, hesitating before turning it and pushing it outwards. 

It creaked, but it was drowned out by the sound of music. Historia listened. Fifties. Sinatra. She doesn’t know much, all she remembers is that her father listened to him a lot. 

Stepping out, she found herself in a living room type area with a kitchen off to the side, where she could see the back of a man bent over a stove. 

Historia walked further out, leaning her head to the side as she walked closer to the man. 

As she got near, she spoke, loud enough to be heard over the music, “Hello?” 

The man peered over his shoulder, revealing he was quite elderly. His wrinkles became more apparent as he smiled, his mustache rising with the corners of his lips. His golden eyes glanced back at the food, his hand reaching over to a remote, picking it up and holding it out to the side, turning down the volume on the sound system. 

He sighed and turned around to face her completely, trying his best to give a welcoming smile. But it was obvious he hasn’t had a guest in a long while. “Hello, young miss. I see you’ve changed your clothes.” 

She turned her head down at her clothing. “Oh...yeah, these fit pretty well...do you have a granddaughter who comes by?” 

His smile faltered. “Aha...I’m afraid not, those are my wife’s clothes. She passed away a year ago. I keep her clothes around for multiple reasons...this is one of them. Not that I’d expect a girl in burnt clothing to be lying around the forest. Care to explain that? Party?”

Historia grabbed her arm and looked downward. “I would like nothing more than to tell you, but…” she tilted her head up, “I don’t understand it myself.” 

The man wrinkled his nose a bit, before nodding and turning back to the food. “That is okay. I guess I wouldn’t expect you to understand it. The situation itself was pretty strange.” He  stared at the food, staying silent for a moment.

He looked at her, offering a genuine smile. “Excuse my manners, I didn’t even ask you your name. Mine is Dot Pixis.”

“Oh, uh...my name is Historia...Historia Reiss.”

“Well, miss Reiss, you can leave whenever you feel ready, but I will say...my porkchops have been highly acclaimed by people around the world.” 

That earned a chuckle from the small girl as she glanced at the food. “Uhm...sure, why not? I am pretty hungry anyway.” 

“Well, then take a seat. I will be serving it soon.” 

Historia smiled and walked over to the table and sitting down. 

Dot got two plates of dinner and brought them over, setting them down on the table. “So...do you have a family? Friends?”

Historia was cutting her meat, stopping at the first question. “Uh...family? W-well…” she let go of her utensils and brushed some hair behind her ear, “I-I, uh...I wouldn’t consider them my family anymore.” 

“Infighting?”

“You could say that.” 

“So you can’t go back to them?”

“I can,” She began to play with her food, poking and prodding the meat with her fork, “I just don’t want to.” 

“It’s that bad?” 

“It’s that bad.”  

“I am guessing it isn’t something you like to go into detail about?” 

“No...not really. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. Sorry to prod.” 

“Don’t...just don’t worry about it.” 

Dot nodded, and with nothing else to say, continued on with dinner.

* * *

 

With dinner finished, Dot took the plates and began washing them as Historia stood in the living room, biting her nail while pacing back and forth, her feet padding against the wooden floor as she contemplated recent events. 

She didn’t think what happened was even possible. The girl was a doll for so long that it seemed hopeless to become her own woman again. 

Yet, here she is, with her personality and control back into her grasp. She missed it. She missed feeling able. She hated every second of being with the Syndicate. The only time she could be happy...was when she was with Ymir. The only one who treated her like an actual human being, even though she couldn’t act like one. 

She wondered where Ymir was. What she was doing. Probably worrying about her. Historia herself was worried for Ymir. She might be a contractor, and a powerful one at that, but even they aren’t invincible. 

That’s when she realized Dot was talking to her, as the tones of his voice vibrated against her ear drum, causing her to snap her head to look at him, eyebrows raised. “What?” 

Dot cocked an eyebrow, but gave a slight shake of his head. “I asked you if you knew what you were going to do tomorrow?”

“T-tomorrow?”

“By all means, you are welcome to stay here for as long as you like, just help around the house and stuff. But you don’t seem like the kind of lady to stay in one place for long.”

Historia glanced to the side, scrunching her mouth to one corner. “I guess I will cross that bridge when I get there.”

Dot could do nothing but nod, finishing off washing the dishes and wiping his hands with a towel. “Well...I am going to head in for the night. You going to sleep?”

She grabbed her arm, looking down at the floor. She wasn’t really tired. But she didn’t know what to do if she stayed up. “Uhm...yeah.” 

“Alright. Well...goodnight, I guess.” 

Historia began to make her way to the room given to her. “Goodnight, Mr. Pixis.”

* * *

 

When you’re unable to sleep, you find ways to occupy yourself as you wait for the blanket of unconsciousness to be thrown over your eyes. Counting sheep, dreaming, thinking.

Historia’s method was to count the knots in the wooden ceiling to keep herself from being bored. And it was failing to deliver. 

She sighed and turned her head to look out the nearest window, the moonlight shining through onto the wooden floor, illuminating the dust particles that the house undoubtedly had. 

_ What should I do?  _

She began to think of the things she could do. 

Find and get to Ymir. 

Leave and live a life on her own. 

Or...go back to...them.

_ No...never. I don’t want to see their faces again. _

Historia sighed once more. 

_ I should just go back to Ymir- _

Suddenly, a rustling noise outside caught her attention. She thought of it to be an animal, and was about to try getting some sleep, when a voice pierced the air. 

“Olllld maaaaaan!” 

A young, intelligent voice echoed throughout the forest, as many flashlight beams waved about, and the rustling got closer. 

Historia widened her eyes and climbed out of her bed, crawling along the floor until she reached the living room, where she saw Dot was walking out of his room. He spotted her and gestured for her to stay back as he approached the door.

He opened it, holding a hand up to block away the bright lights. “Who is it?” 

From Historia’s view, she could see one of the flashlights approach closer, before flipping up to shine the user’s face from below. 

Dot frowned. 

“Remember me, ya old fuck?” The same voice that had called out earlier, probably the leader, had a bit of amusement.

Dot nodded. “I do. I thought I told you to stay away.” 

“You did…” 

Suddenly, she saw Dot get hit with the handle of a flashlight, causing the old man to grunt, falling to his knees. Historia held back a gasp. 

“And I told you I would come back. I made sure to bring more friends of mine.” 

Dot groaned as he looked up at the leader. “Why...are you here?” 

Some silence followed, with the leader crouching down in front of Dot, his face obstructed to her by the shadows.

“I am here for her.” 

Historia took in a sharp breath, holding it.  _ Did they mean me?  _

Her eyes began searching around the room, the only lights being the ones held by the men. She had to adjust to the darkness. 

Then she saw it. 

Dot’s gun.

“Give her to me, and I will leave you at peace.” 

“Why do you want her so bad?” 

The leader leaned in close enough for Historia to hear him speak in a low tone.

“Because she was refused from me...by you.” 

The last two words were promptly followed by another swift strike of his flashlight, causing Dot to release a pained gasp. 

The leader stood up, leaning away from Dot, he muttered something she couldn’t hear. 

However, as the leader’s friends entered the home, she knew what he commanded of them.

_ Find her.  _

The leader grabbed Dot’s collar and dragged him further out onto the dirt as the old man didn’t have the strength to fight back. 

The friends were getting closer to her position. She had to make a decision. 

Historia took a deep breath, then went off in a sprint across the living room, catching a man by surprise and pushing him to the side before grabbing the gun leaning against the wall. 

She twisted around, holding the rifle at waist level, seeing the men stare back at her.

One of them spoke, his hands up in the air, “Hey, hey. We aren’t here to hurt you-”

“Don’t lie to me,” she replied with a hint of venom, lifting the rifle closer up to her chest. 

The man closest to her looked at the others, as if asking for help. “We, uh, don’t want any trouble. Right, guys?” 

They all nodded. 

“Yeah, see? So just...lower the gun. Then we can talk.” 

“I think I feel more comfortable with the gun raised.”

The man nodded. “Alright. That’s fine. Yeah.” 

Then he glanced behind her.

Historia’s bright blue eyes widened, her finger pulling the trigger, blasting the man’s chest open, the recoil pushing her back into the arms of the man behind her. 

She shrieked, using the butt of the gun to hit him in the stomach, causing him to double over, which allowed her to turn around, whacking him in the nose with the stock. He let go of her, trying to nurse a now-broken nose. She held the gun up, and pulled the trigger once again. 

_ Click.  _

Her breath hitched in her throat. The gun had only one unspent shell. And she already used it. 

The man let go of his bleeding nose and smiled at her. “Looks like you’re all outta luck, blondie.” 

Suddenly, someone grabbed her arms and restrained her from behind, the gun dropping to the ground. 

She screamed. “Let go of me!”

Jerking around, Historia tried to free herself, which didn’t do much to help her as she was dragged out into the cold of night. 

“There she is!” The voice of the leader was heard, the sounds of crunching grass coming close. 

“So what happened?”

“She shot Wilhelm. He’s dead.” 

She heard a hard sigh.

Suddenly, her chin was grasped and forced to turn her head. She closed her eyes.

“Look at me.” 

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, seeing the face of what should be a sweet young man. He had the dimples, bright eyes, amazing smile, but it was all to hide the facade. She knew who this man was. 

A monster. 

“Pretty eyes. Thought you would have them.” 

He let go of her jaw after the statement, giving a dreamy sigh, the kind you give after seeing a crush. 

Historia got a good look at Dot, who was more beaten. Welts, blood, bruises, all of them, covering his face. It was horrific. 

“Dot?” She called out to him. 

He nodded, showing he was still okay. 

“Enough!” The leader commanded, holding his hands behind his back, he stretched his neck. “I will not have our party activities talking to each other!” 

He glanced over to his friends. “Shall we begin?” 

Stepping over to Dot, he grabbed the old man’s head and pulled it back. “Right here, we have an old fuck! He is a dirtbag and deserves what’s coming to him. Which, by the way, is being slowly beaten to death with blunt objects. Be it a gun, or a flashlight, anything is permitted, as long as it doesn’t kill him instantly. Now, over here!” 

He approached Historia, crouching down next to her. “We have a blond, probably lightweight, small. Brilliant blue eyes. Probably a good lay. With Wilhelm now dead, we can...take out all our anger on her and the old shit. Can’t wait to try her out myself.” 

Historia looked at him. “In your dreams.” She hissed.

A sneer crept along his face, and he swung the back of his hand at her, smacking her square in the cheek and sending her to the floor. 

He stood up, sighing before looking at the others. “Shall we get started?” 

His friends nodded, and started closing in. 

“Get away! Stay back!” 

One of them grabbed her legs, another began to take off her clothes. 

“Stop it!”

That was when a warm sensation started inside of her, and spreading across her whole body. The warmth began to grow.

“Ahh!” One of the guys yelped in pain, waving his hand around. “Her skin just burned me!” 

The one taking off her clothes cocked an eyebrow. “Her skin?” 

He looked down, his eyes widening when he saw her clothes start to burn, causing him to jump back. 

The leader raised his eyebrows. “What’s going on?” 

Historia got onto her knees, lifting her head to look at the leader. 

Her eyes were glowing a bright white. 

“Get back, you bastards!” Her voice became distorted. 

Dot stared with wide eyes. Who was this girl?

Then she began to scream. 

Her voice pierced their ears, causing some to bleed as her eyes became brighter, and her skin became redder, the heat creating singed holes in her clothing. 

The leader only had a short amount of time to run before an explosion emitted from Historia’s body, sending a shockwave that not only killed everyone nearby, turned their corpses from skin to muscle to bone, and, finally, to ash. Nearby trees were blown back, some falling over or being sent flying.

From the city, people could see a huge ball of white erupting from the forest. Stopping short of a couple of miles. Then, slowly, it retreated back, leaving only a black burnt circle that used to be full of green. 

And, in the center of it all, a girl lay, passed out among the heaps of ash. 

If Section 4 didn’t know where she was, they do now.

* * *

 

**_Eight Years Ago_ **

 

The small blonde woman stood in the white room, empty if not for a table and a couple of chairs. She wasn’t sitting. She couldn’t. She was nervous. 

_ What did they do to her? Did they completely make her forget I existed? That we were friends?  _

She propped herself up on the table, taking deep breaths. “Just calm yourself, Annie. You’re a contractor. You can control this.” 

That’s when she heard the door opening. 

Annie twisted around, eyes wide as she saw the door swing wide. 

At first, no one came in. 

Then, someone came in, leading another person by the arm gently. 

Annie’s eyes were on the other person. A young woman. Black hair in loose pigtails. The blonde smiled. 

“Mina.” She mumbled. 

The person leading her looked at Annie. “She may not remember you. It’s been a while.” 

Annie frowned.  _ Please no… _ “What do you mean?”

The person was about to say something, when Mina shook her head. “No...no I remember her.” 

Annie’s eyebrows raised. “Really?” 

Mina nodded. “Yes...Annie...my friend. Helped me when I...was no longer considered...human.” 

The person glanced at Annie. “Is it okay if I sit her down? I have other things to attend to, and it looks like you two have a lot to talk about.” 

Annie nodded and sat down at the table, gesturing for the helper to sit Mina down. 

Once the person left, Annie looked at Mina, now having time to look at her and how much she has changed. 

While her hair has grown longer, nothing much has changed. Different clothing of course, but nothing to note. 

“Is everything okay?” Mina asked. 

Annie raised her eyebrows at the question. “Hm? Oh...yeah,” she gave a slight grin, “Everything is just fine. I just...it’s been a while, Mina.” 

Mina simply stared past her. “It has.” 

Annie nodded, tapping her fingers against the table. “How has life been?”

“It’s hard to say.” 

“Why?”

“I barely have one. It’s just been training.” 

“When will training be over?”

“They told me that...whenever they feel I am ready.” 

Annie’s eyebrows turned down. “Ready? Ready for what?” 

“They have been...figuring out my...medium.” 

“Medium, huh? Do you know what that is?”

“From what they have told me? Dirt.” 

Annie cocked an eyebrow. “Dirt?” 

“Yeah.” 

Annie nodded, glancing to the side as she remembered the first time Mina turned into a doll. When she brought her outside, she began to dig her hand into the soil they sat on. 

It began to make more sense. “How have you been doing with that?” 

“They’ve told me I am doing well.” 

“Good.” 

They fell in silence, one waiting for the other to speak. When no voice came for a minute or more, Annie spoke up. 

“Why don’t you come with me? My next mission could use someone like you.” 

Mina sat, emotionless. “I don’t know if they will allow that.” 

“It’s a simple mission. Just a murder. Nothing too big for you. If your medium can’t help, I can still get in and out like that,” she said, snapping her fingers. “It’d be good practice for you to be out in the field.”

Mina glanced at the door, her blank eyes blinking. “It’s not my decision.” 

Annie frowned, her fingers tapping against the table’s surface faster. “I can make them decide.” 

“Don’t threaten them.” 

“I wasn’t thinking of that. I can talk to them. Just give me some days. I can get higher ups to help me out, too.” 

“If you think it would work.” 

Annie Leonhardt gave a single nod. “I think we can work something out.”

* * *

 

**_Present Day_ **

 

Her eyes never left the hallway she saw Levi go down, wondering when he would come out to stop the interrogation in its tracks. 

So far, nothing yet. 

She glanced at the clock.  _ Almost midnight...I better get paid extra for this.  _

Annie was about to go back to her work, when something caught her eye. 

A tiny blue specter poking out from the nearby potted plant dirt. 

_ Mina’s watching me,  _ she smirked, shooing it away. “Not here.” She whispered. 

The specter stayed where it was for a few moments. 

_ Is she being rebellious? _

But then the specter disappeared instantly, as the elevator doors opened, and an ash brown haired man burst out from between the opening doors. 

“Levi!” He called out, looking around to only see Annie sitting there, giving an incredulous look. “Where’s Levi?” 

Annie simply pointed down the hall. “Interrogation room viewer.” 

Jean nodded his thanks and started down the hall to enter the interrogation room viewer. 

Then he stepped out almost as quick, with Levi in tow. “And you think this might be her?”

“Moratoriums are super powerful since they don’t know how to use their abilities at all. This blast took out a good chunk of the forest. I believe it’s her.” 

Levi stopped before the interrogation room door, reaching out to knock against its wooden surface, the sound reverberating throughout the hall. 

It opened, with Eren poking his head out. “What is- oh, Levi...uhm. I, uh, suppose you have heard about Ymir?” 

Levi nodded. “I’ve been watching you talk to her for a bit. But now is not the time to talk about that. Jean here has gotten reports of a large white dome-shaped explosion in the forest near Rose.”

Eren’s eyes widened. “Wait so…you guys found her?”

Jean shrugged. “Maybe.” 

A voice from inside the interrogation room was heard. “You found Historia?” 

Eren glanced over his shoulder. “They said maybe.” 

“Can I come?”

Levi grabbed the door and opened it wider, making Eren back away and Ymir stand up. 

He shook his head. “We can’t bring anyone who isn’t authority to a possible contractor sighting. You must stay here and wait.” 

“But why?” 

“People would start to get curious as to why a civilian is there. We can’t have that. Do you understand?” 

Ymir frowned, but sat down and crossed her arms. “Fine. But I want to see her when you bring her back.” 

Levi didn’t respond, instead he left Eren to go to the elevator. “Jean, get Mikasa and tell her to meet me at the forest. Eren, I want you to join her.” 

Eren watched his boss enter the elevator, turning around to stare back, expecting a response. 

“Uhm, yes sir.” Eren nodded as Jean left to get their partner. 

Levi nodded his head back, pressing a button, before the elevator doors closed in front of him. 

Eren looked over at Ymir, who still had her arms crossed and brows furrowed. “I’ll see what I can do, Ymir.” He said, before closing the door behind himself, leaving the woman in the room. 

* * *

 

Annie sat by and watched the whole event unfold before her. 

_ So they found the moratorium?  _

She sighed in relief. Soon, her mission will be over. And as Eren left Ymir in the interrogation room, she contemplated going in there to take out the contractor. 

But she shook her head. 

_ Getting the moratorium is the primary objective. Taking out Ymir comes second.  _

After that, she decided to go back to her work. Until Eren stepped up to her desk. “Hey, Annie.” 

Annie continued typing on the keyboard, only giving Eren a glance. “Hello, Eren. Don’t you have somewhere to go?” 

He stuck his hands in his pockets. “Well, yeah. I do. But I just wanted to take a little time to ask if you wanted to go out again? After we get the moratorium in a safe place?” 

Annie stopped typing, her hands sliding to either side of the keyboard, planting themselves firm against the desk.  _ Should I? It would allow me to get under his skin, find out about the security measures they’ll use for the moratorium. That could help my plans.  _

“Annie?”

She turned her head up. “Yes. I would like to go out with you again. We can plan it out later. I must get back to work, as should you.” 

Eren smiled. “Right. Thanks. Talk to you later.” He said, beaming as he joined his partners in entering the elevator. 

Annie watched them leave, giving a sigh as their elevator began to descend. 

_ Let’s hope this goes well. _

* * *

 

As the wheels turned over dirt and rocks, crackling as they were pushed together, Eren’s eyes witnessed a truly destructive sight right from the passenger seat of this car, shaking from the uneven surface.

The headlights illuminated beyond him, the dirt went from brown to black, the trees when from full height to adult or stump height, whatever bark or wood hanging on blown the opposite direction of the agents’ destination.

“Jesus...what happened?” Eren asked, seeing an officer inspecting one of the trees as they passed by.

Mikasa glanced over. “That thing you said...about the moratorium.” 

“Yeah?”

“I think we are witnessing it on a wider scale.” 

“Dear lord…” 

As they got deeper in, an officer stepped over to stop them. Eren rolled down the window, pulling out his badge. “Section 4, Agent Eren Jaeger, this is Agent Mikasa Ackerman. We’ve come to meet our boss, Levi Ackerman.” 

The officer inspected the badge before nodding and gesturing for them to move on. “You’re good to go, agents.” 

Eren rolled the window back up as Mikasa continued on. “Do you think she is still here?” She asked.

“Doubt it,” Eren said, “If I was her, I’d run as far as I can.” 

“Why?”

“Seeing something like this done...all because of you...it’d be pretty shocking. I’d run.”

“Hmm.”

They maintained a steady silence for the rest of the ride, which wasn’t too long as they soon saw a destroyed cabin in front of them, with policemen exploring the wreckage. And Levi, standing in front of something next to the cabin, surrounded by ash.

Mikasa parked the car, getting out with Eren. They made their way over to their boss, the man crouching down and reaching his hand out. As the two got closer, Eren pulled out his flashlight and shined it at their boss. They saw what he was interacting with. 

A small, blonde girl, sitting in the fetal position, shaking. From the cold, or something else, they don’t know. 

Levi peered over his shoulder, putting a finger to his lips as he turned back to the girl. 

“Miss...look at me.”

The blonde girl stared at one of the ash heaps with wide eyes. Her lips were muttering something. 

“Miss...miss, please. I need you to look at me.” He gripped her shoulder. “Please.” 

As soon as he grabbed her shoulder, her eyes shut. “I can’t…” She whimpered. 

Levi nodded. “I understand that this is a lot for someone like you. But this is important. So just...look at me.” 

She hesitated, as if not wanting to look anyone in the eye in fear of them judging her. But, with a bit of reluctance, she opened her eyes and looked at Levi. 

He gave a slight smile. “Alright, that’s good. Now...can you tell me your name?” 

The girl glanced to the side, like she was remembering her own name. Like it was something lost to her for years. 

But, eventually, she spoke her name. 

“Historia. Historia...Reiss. That’s my name. Now please, just...take me away...take me away, so I can’t hurt anyone anymore.” 

 

* * *

 

**_“_ ** **_Underneath this moonlight,_ **

**_without anyone knowing_ **

**_I was only calling out your name”_ **

* * *

 

**_Studio Ereannie_ **

 

**_Writer:_ **

**Freelance7**

 

**_Supervising Producers:_ **

**Nakamatoo**

**Insomniatic Titan**

**Dorminchu**

**Ghastmine**

**Euregatto**

**Titan-Wolfdog**

**Nanisketches**

 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it’s once again been a long time. This time I just had (and still kinda do) have a bad case of writer’s block. But hopefully that is fading away. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this! Please remember to comment! Those make me so happy!
> 
>  
> 
> Goodbye!

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Anyway, thank you guys for reading my new series. Yes it’s still going to be Ereannie, but as I said, I want a bigger focus on other pairings as well. I also decided to make it look more like a show, hence the Season and episode. If you guys like this, I would recommend watching Darker than Black. It’s amazing. So please leave a comment for praise or criticism. Thank you for reading!


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